Bandwidth estimation for ultra-high-speed lithium niobate modulators

The effects of velocity matching, impedance matching, conductor loss, and dielectric loss on the optical bandwidth of an ultra-high-speed lithium niobate modulator are reported. It is shown that both dielectric loss and impedance matching play a key role for velocity-matched high-speed modulators with low conductor loss. The effects of etch depth, buffer thickness, electrode width, and the gap between the electrodes on device performance are also illustrated. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.