MACH-ZEHNDER MODULATOR ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A MACH-ZEHNDER MODULATOR ARRANGEMENT

• Main Author: VELTHAUS, Karl-Otto
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 09.01.2019
• Subjects: DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS, THE OPTICAL OPERATION OF WHICH ISMODIFIED BY CHANGING THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIUM OF THEDEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF THE INTENSITY,COLOUR, PHASE, POLARISATION OR DIRECTION OF LIGHT, e.g.SWITCHING, GATING, MODULATING OR DEMODULATING; FREQUENCY-CHANGING; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICS; PHYSICS; TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES FOR THE OPERATION THEREOF

The invention relates to An electro-optic Mach-Zehnder modulator arrangement, comprising a plurality of first waveguide electrodes (210) and a plurality of second waveguide electrodes (220) arranged on top of capacitive segments (1110, 1210) of the first and the second optical waveguide (11, 12); a plurality of driver units (410) for supplying a voltage (V) to the electrode arrangement (2), each one of the driver unit (410) comprising at least a first output port (4410) coupled to one of the first waveguide electrodes (210) and a second output port (4420) coupled to one of the second waveguide electrodes (220); a non-grounded conductive region (30) via which the capacitive segment (1110) of the first optical waveguide (11) is connected to the capacitive segment (1210) of the second optical waveguide (12); and a DC-source (6) connected to the first and/or the second waveguide electrodes (210, 220) and the conductive region (30) for supplying a bias voltage (V bias ) across the capacitive segments (1110, 1210) of the optical waveguides (11, 12). According to the invention, each one of the driver units (41) is configured to supply a first varying signal (S+) to the first waveguide electrode (21) via the first output port (441) and to supply a second varying signal (S-) to the second waveguide electrode (22) via the second output port (442), wherein each one of the driver units (410) is a differential driver unit assigned to one first waveguide electrode (210) and one second waveguide electrode (220), and wherein the DC-source (6) is connected to the conductive region (30) and ground.