Phys.org August 23, 2023
Digitalizing optical signals through electric driving signals, electro-optic modulators (EOMs) are one of the cardinal elements in modern optical communications. Most of current EOM devices are targeting on-chip integrations, which routinely suffer from high coupling losses, complex optical alignments, and single-band operations. Researchers in China integrated a lumped EOM device on the end faces of a single-mode optical fiber jumper for fast amplitude modulations. Taking advantage of the ultrathin and high quality-factor plasmonic metasurfaces, nanofabrication-friendly and highly efficient EO polymers and coupling-free connections with fiber networks, the EOM was demonstrated to allow dual-band operations and high-speed modulations. According to the researchers their work offers an avenue to ‘plug-and-play’ implementations of EO devices and ultracompact “all-in-fibers” optical systems for communications, imaging, sensing and many others… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Schematics of configuration… Credit: Light: Science & Applications volume 12, Article number: 198 (2023)