Electrically Controlled Optical Device

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to electrically controlled optical devices with a high operating speed, such as a light intensity modulator, a light phase modulator, or an optical switch, and also to a method of producing such electrically controlled optical devices.

2. Description of the Prior Art

For a better understanding of conventional electrically controlled optical devices, one example of a conventional Mach-Zehnder light intensity (optical) modulator is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, which are a plan view thereof and a cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A', respectively. In this example, Mach-Zehnder optical waveguides 2 are formed by Ti thermal diffusion in a Z-cut substrate 1 of LiNbO.sub.3 having electro-optic effects. A buffer layer 3 of SiO.sub.2 having a thickness D (usually, D is 2000 to 3000 .ANG.) is formed on the substrate 1, and a coplanar waveguide (CPW) composed of a center electrode 4 and earth or ground electrodes 5 is formed on the buffer layer 3. Each termination resistor 6 is connected between the CPW electrodes 4 and 5. A feeder 7 is connected to the electrodes 4 and 5 to supply a modulating microwave signal thereto.

The electrode 4 and the electrodes 5 are generally called "CPW electrodes", and are constituted as traveling wave electrodes. With respect to the dimensions of these electrodes, the thickness of the electrodes 4 and 5 is usually 1 to 3 .mu.m, the width 2W of the center electrode 4 is 35 .mu.m, and the gaps 2G between the center electrode 4 and the earth electrodes 5 are 6 .mu.m. Since the characteristic impedance of the CPW electrodes is 21 .OMEGA., 42 .OMEGA. is selected as the value of the termination resistors 6.

Generally, in an optical modulator, when driving electric power is supplied from the modulating microwave signal feeder 7, an electric field is applied between the center electrode 4 and the earth electrodes 5. Since the LiNbO.sub.3 substrate 1 has electro-optic effects, a change in the refractive index occurs due to this electric field. As a result, the light beams propagated respectively through the two optical waveguides 2 are shifted in phase from each other. When this phase shift reaches the level of .pi., the light radiates in to the substrate at a light-mixing portion of the Mach-Zehnder optical waveguide, so that an OFF condition develops. In this optical modulator, since the CPW electrodes 4 and 5 are constituted as traveling wave electrodes, such a limitation as is encountered in an electrical circuit is ideally not imposed on the bandwidth. Furthermore, insofar as the modulating microwave signal wave propagated through the CPW electrodes 4 and 5 agrees in propagating velocity with the light propagated through the optical waveguide 2, the modulation bandwidth is not limited, and therefore the optical modulator can operate at high speed.

Actually, however, there is a difference between the velocity of the microwave and the velocity of the light, and th modulation bandwidth is limited by it. A 3 dB modulation bandwidth .DELTA.f resulting from this velocity mismatch is expressed by the following formula (Reference literature: Journal of Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers of Japan, (C), J64-C, 4, p. 264-271, 1981):

where n.sub.m represents the microwave effective index of the substrate 1 with respect to the signal wave, n.sub.o represents the effective index encountered by the light, L represents the length of the portion of the CPW electrode 4, 5 interacting with the optical waveguide 2, and c represents the light velocity.

Here, the modulation bandwidth .DELTA.f represents the 3 dB modulation bandwidth in optical power. In the above reference literature, the 3 dB modulation bandwidth is indicated in terms of the electric level when the above optical power is converted by a light-receiving device. Therefore, the factor "1.9" in the formula (1) is obtained through conversion of a factor "1.4" of the above reference literature.

The relation of the above microwave effective index n.sub.m with an effective dielectric constant .epsilon..sub.eff (effective relative permittivity) of the substrate 1 is expressed in the following: ##EQU1##

In a substrate material having electro-optic effects, the microwave effective index n.sub.m with respect to a signal wave is usually greater than the effective index n.sub.o with respect to light. The effective dielectric constant .epsilon..sub.eff of the substrate 1 is determined mainly by the dielectric constant .epsilon..sub.r2 and the thickness of the substrate material, the gap 2G between the CPW electrodes 4 and 5, the operating frequency, etc. To permit the substrate to be easily handled when producing it, the thickness of the substrate is usually 0.5 mm to several millimeters. Since the thickness of the substrate is usually sufficiently greater than the electrode gap 2G, the following formula is established:

The dielectric constant of the LiNbO.sub.3 substrate is nearly equal to 35 (i.e., .epsilon..sub.r2 .apprxeq.35), and from the formulas (2) and (3), the microwave effective index n.sub.m is nearly equal to 4.2 (i.e., n.sub.m .apprxeq.4.2). Since the effective index n.sub.o with respect to light is 2.1 (i.e., n.sub.o =2.1), the microwave effective index n.sub.m is about twice the effective index n.sub.o.

Therefore, when operation of the device is to be effected at 9 GHz, around 10 mm is selected, from the formula (1), as the length L of the portion of the CPW electrodes 4 and 5 interacting with the optical waveguide.

In order that the conventional optical modulator shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B can operate at high speed, it will be appreciated from the formula (1) that the length L of the CPW electrodes 4 and 5 should be shortened in accordance with the operating frequency. However, when the electrode length L is shortened, the driving voltage of the optical modulator becomes higher, which results in the disadvantage that the modulation efficiency is lowered.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show an optical modulator disclosed by some of the present inventors and others in an earlier Japanese Patent Application, Laying-Open No. 48,021/89. In this optical modulator, a shield conductor 9 is provided on electrodes 4 and 5 through an overlaid layer 8. The overlaid layer 8 is made of polyimide or air. By reducing the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 (that is, bringing the shield conductor 9 closer to the electrodes 4 and 5), the microwave effective index n.sub.m can be decreased, thereby decreasing the velocity mismatch between the microwave and the light.

However, in this optical modulator of the above earlier application, the effect of decreasing the microwave effective index n.sub.m by the buffer layer 3 is not efficiently utilized. Therefore, if it is intended to sufficiently match the velocity of the microwave to that of the light, the characteristic impedance of the CPW electrodes 4 and 5 decreases too much, as compared with the case where the shield conductor 9 is not used. As a result, the CPW electrodes 4 and 5 can not match an external microwave circuit. Moreover, if in view of this impedance decrease due to the shield conductor 9, the gap width 2G is increased (that is, the characteristic impedance is set to a high value), the intensity of the electric field acting on the optical waveguide 2 is weakened, so that the driving voltage is increased. Further, since the shield conductor 9 is disposed close to the CPW electrodes 4 and 5, the microwave conductor loss becomes large as will be later described.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show an optical modulator disclosed by some of the present inventors and others in an earlier Japanese Patent Application, No. 201491/88. In this optical modulator, the width 2W of the center electrode 4 is approximately equal to that of the optical waveguide 2, and the buffer layer 3 of SiO.sub.2 has an increased thickness D, thereby improving the characteristics.

The characteristics of this earlier example are shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows the results of analysis of the relation of the microwave effective index n.sub.m and the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o with the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 when the width 2W of the central conductor portion 4 of the CPW is 8 .mu.m, and the gap width 2G is 15 .mu.m. In this analysis, the evaluation is made using the spectral domain method (Kawano: "Hybrid-mode analysis of a broadside-coupled microstrip line", IEE Proc. Pt. H, vol.131, pp.21-24, 1984), which can strictly deal with a dielectric multi-layer structure.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, with an increase of the thickness of the buffer layer 3, the microwave effective index n.sub.m decreases, and hence .vertline.n.sub.m -n.sub.o .vertline. decreases. As a result, the product of the 3 dB modulation band and interaction length (.DELTA.f.multidot.L) can be increased, as shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 5, the ordinate axis represents the product (.DELTA.f.multidot.L) of the 3 dB modulation band .DELTA.f and the length L of the CPW electrode. Hereinafter, .DELTA.f.multidot.L or .DELTA.f will be often referred to as the "(3 dB) modulation band".

When the voltage for switching the light output from an ON condition to an OFF condition (that is, the half-wave voltage V.pi.) is small, a higher efficiency is achieved. FIG. 6 shows the relation between the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 and the product (V.pi..multidot.L) of the half-wave voltage V.pi. and the interacting length L.

As indicated in the formula (1), the modulation band .DELTA.f is in inverse proportion to the mismatch between the effective index n.sub.m of the microwave and the effective index n.sub.o of the light. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, as the thickness D of the buffer layer becomes large, and as the mismatch between the effective index n.sub.m of the microwave and the effective index n.sub.o becomes small, the rate of increase of the modulation band becomes high.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, V.pi..multidot.L increases substantially linearly with an increase of the thickness D of the buffer layer 3. The ratio of .DELTA.f.multidot.L to V.pi..multidot.L (.DELTA.f/V.pi.) represents a modulation index, and it is desirable that this value be high. As shown in FIG. 7, .DELTA.f/V.pi. tends to increase with an increase of the thickness D of the buffer layer 3, but a marked improvement in optical modulation efficiency can not be expected.

Also, as shown in FIG. 4, when the thickness of the buffer layer 3 is increased, the value of the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o tends to increase, so that it is difficult to achieve matching with an external circuit. Therefore, in view of the impedance matching with the external circuit, if Z.sub.o is determined to be about 50.+-.10 .OMEGA., then it is necessary that the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 be set to not more than about 1 .mu.m.

Accordingly, as is clear from FIG. 7, .DELTA.f/V.pi. is not more than 1.7. Also, when the length L is increased, the microwave conductor loss and the value of the dc resistance are increased, which makes it difficult to obtain good modulation characteristics.

FIG. 8 shows an optical modulator invented by Mitomi et al. and disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 91,111/89. FIG. 9 shows an optical modulator proposed in the Second Optoelectronics Conference (OEC '88) Post-Deadline Papers Technical Digest, PD-1 (Oct. 1988, Tokyo).

In FIG. 8, the thickness of traveling wave electrodes 10 and 11 (here, asymmetrical coplanar strips are used as one example) is increased in an attempt to decrease the microwave effective index n.sub.m. With this construction, the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o is also decreased together with the microwave effective index n.sub.m.

FIG. 9 shows a structure which improves such characteristics. In this case, the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 is increased to about 1 .mu.m so as to increase the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o, thereby compensating for the reduction of Z.sub.o caused when the thickness of electrodes 10 and 11 is increased to 10 .mu.m. Further, as described above for the prior art of FIG. 3 with reference to the formula (1) and FIG. 7, the increase of the thickness of the buffer layer 3 also improves the value of .DELTA.f/V.pi.. However, in order to achieve velocity matching between the light and the microwave, it is necessary to set the thickness of the electrodes to not less than 10 .mu.m, and manufacturing difficulties, such as a short circuit between the electrodes 11, are inevitably encountered. Therefore, with this technique, it is difficult to carry out light modulation over a very wide band.

As described above, with the conventional constructions, the matching of the characteristic impedance can not be sufficiently achieved, or the microwave conductor loss can not be kept to a low level, or the half-wave voltage can not be decreased, or the velocity of the microwave can not match the velocity of the light wave. Therefore, it has been very difficult to achieve both a wide band characteristic and a low driving voltage characteristic.

It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide an electrically controlled optical device which is rendered highly efficient over a wide band by overcoming the above-mentioned problems, such as a characteristic impedance mismatching between the electrodes and an external circuit, an increase in the microwave conductor loss, an increase in the half-wave voltage, and a mismatching between the velocity of light and the velocity of the microwave.

When such an electrically controlled optical device having a high efficiency over a wide band is actually to be produced, there are used known techniques such as an air bridge as commonly used in the manufacture of a microwave integrated circuit. However, in this case, it is necessary to precisely form an overlaid layer of not more than 10 .mu.m thickness over a length of several centimeters, and therefore the fabrication cannot be effected easily, thus making its manufacture difficult.

Therefore, a second object of the present invention is to provide a method of easily producing an electrically controlled optical device which is highly efficient over a wide band, which method overcomes the above difficulties heretofore involved in the manufacture of an electrically controlled optical device.

In order to achieve the above first object, according to the present invention, there is provided an electrically controlled optical device comprising:

a substrate having electro-optic effects and having at least one optical waveguide;

a buffer layer provided on the substrate;

traveling wave electrodes provided on the buffer layer and comprising a center electrode and earth electrodes; and

a shield conductor provided near to a region where the optical waveguide interacts with the traveling wave electrodes, the shield conductor confronting the traveling wave electrodes through an overlaid layer;

the thickness of the buffer layer and the thickness of the overlaid layer being so determined that the microwave effective index of the substrate with respect to a modulating microwave signal applied to the traveling wave electrodes approaches the effective index of light propagated through the optical waveguide, and also that the characteristic impedance of the traveling wave electrodes approaches the characteristic impedance of an associated external microwave circuit.

The thickness of the overlaid layer is 3 to 10 .mu.m if its dielectric constant is about 1 (for example, air). The thickness of the buffer layer is 0.5 to 2.0 .mu.m if its dielectric constant is not more than 4.5 (for example, silicon dioxide or Teflon).

In the above construction, the thickness of the buffer layer is much increased as compared with the prior art, and the shield conductor is provided. Therefore, broad-band light modulation can be achieved without unduly increasing the driving voltage.

The inventors of the present invention have attempted to further enhance the performance of the above electrically controlled optical device of the present invention, and have found that this electrically controlled optical device can be further improved in the following points:

In the above electrically controlled optical device of the present invention, it is necessary to use a thick buffer layer in order to reduce the microwave propagation loss and to reduce the velocity mismatching between the microwave and the light. Therefore, the interaction between the microwave and the light wave is less active. Further, in this electrically controlled optical device, since the earth electrodes are wide, the lines of electric forces from the center electrode are distributed widely over the earth electrode, and as a result the efficiency of overlapping (i.e., interaction) between the microwave and the light is about five times greater at the central electrode than at the earth electrodes. Therefore, in order to keep the driving voltage to not more than 5 V at an operating wavelength of 1.5 .mu.m, it is necessary that the length L of interaction between the microwave and the light should be long, on the order of about 2.7 cm. Therefore, because of losses by the microwave conductor, the 3 dB modulation band is limited to 20 GHz at best.

In the present invention, in order to lessen such band limitation due to the increased microwave conductor loss, the buffer layer is made of a material (for example, a Teflon-type resin; dielectric constant .epsilon..apprxeq.1.9) which is lower in dielectric constant than the heretofore-used materials such as silicon dioxide, SiO.sub.2 (.epsilon.=3.9) and alumina, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 (.epsilon.=9.6).

With this construction, the buffer layer can be greatly reduced in thickness as compared with the conventional silicon dioxide layer. Therefore, when the driving voltage is designed to be the same as that of the prior art, the electrode length can be reduced, which enables the modulation band to be widened greatly. Also, when the electrode length is designed to be the same as that of the prior art, the driving voltage can be reduced greatly.

Further, in the present invention, in order to overcome the band limitation due to the increased microwave conductor loss, at least those portions of the substrate disposed close to the electrodes are recessed, and at a region where light and the microwave interact with each other, part or the whole of the traveling wave electrode structure is spaced apart from that portion of the substrate disposed close to the optical waveguide, so that the microwave conductor loss is reduced, so that the effective index of the microwave conductor through the traveling wave electrode approaches the effective index of the light propagated through the optical waveguide, and so that the characteristic impedance of the traveling wave electrode approaches the characteristic impedance of the associated external circuit.

With this construction, the lines of electric force interconnecting the center electrode and the earth electrodes perceive a thick buffer layer with a low dielectric constant (for example, the dielectric constant of SiO.sub.2 is about 4), and therefore the microwave effective index can be reduced as in the case where the buffer layer is uniformly thick. On the other hand, the depth from the interface between the air and the buffer layer to the optical waveguide can be reduced as compared with the case where the buffer layer is uniformly thick. Therefore, the efficiency of interaction between the microwave and the light becomes higher, so that the driving voltage can be reduced. As a result, the interacting length can be reduced, so that the band can be widened.

FIG. 10 shows a velocity matching-type optical modulator proposed by Sato et al. in the Journal of Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers of Japan (vol. J.69-C, pp. 1291-1296, 1986). At first glance, this construction appears similar to the above construction of the present invention, but differs therefrom in that the edges of electrodes 4 and 5 which produce an electric field of high intensity are disposed in contact with a substrate 1 of a high dielectric constant (the value of this dielectric constant is approximately 35, taking the anisotropy into consideration), and in that a shield conductor is not provided. Because of these differences, the microwave effective index is not reduced sufficiently, and as a result, this conventional optical modulator suffers from the drawback that it is difficult to achieve complete velocity matching.

FIG. 11 shows a construction proposed by Izutsu et al. in literature entitled "Picosecond Electronics and Optoelectronics" (G. A. Mourou et al. ed.), pp. 172-175, Springer-Verlag, 1985. At first glance, this construction also appears similar to the above construction of the present invention, but differs therefrom in that the substrate is not recessed at those portions thereof disposed close to electrodes, and in that a shield conductor is not provided. Therefore, the microwave effective index can not be greatly reduced, which results in the drawback that it is difficult to achieve complete velocity matching.

Further, in the present invention, in order to overcome the above band limitation due to the increased microwave conductor loss, a slot is formed through at least one of the earth electrodes.

With this construction, it is possible to interact the microwave and the light at a high efficiency to decrease the driving voltage. As a result, the interacting length can be reduced, and a broad-band light modulation can be achieved.

In order to achieve the above second object (that is, to provide a method of easily producing an electrically controlled optical device which is highly efficient over a wide band), according to the present invention, the following procedure is adopted.

A substrate having electro-optic effects and having at least one optical waveguide is used. A traveling wave electrode structure is fabricated, on a buffer layer in the vicinity of the optical waveguide, to form at least one optical control portion, thereby providing an electrically controlled optical device. Further, a preformed conductor which can precisely determine the thickness of an overlaid layer is fixed in the vicinity of the electrodes of the electrically controlled optical device.

With this method, an overlaid layer of not more than 10 .mu.m thickness can be formed over a length of several centimeters without the need for advanced fabricating techniques, and therefore a high-speed and broad-band electrically controlled optical device of the velocity matching-type can be easily produced.

The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings .

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a conventional Mach-Zehnder light intensity (optical) modulator;

FIG. 1B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a plan view of an optical modulator disclosed in an earlier Japanese patent application;

FIG. 2B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is a plan view of an optical modulator disclosed in an earlier Japanese patent application;

FIG. 3B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A'of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is an illustration showing the relation of the thickness D of a buffer layer with a microwave effective index n.sub.m and the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o in the optical modulator of FIGS. 3A and 3B;

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing the relation between the 3 dB light modulation band .DELTA.f.multidot.L and the thickness D of the buffer layer in the optical modulation of FIGS. 3A and 3B;

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing the relation between the product (V.pi..multidot.L) of the half-wave voltage V.pi. and the interacting length L and the thickness D of the buffer layer in the optical modulator of FIGS. 3A and 3B;

FIG. 7 is an illustration showing the relation between the ratio (.DELTA.f/V.pi.) and the thickness D of the buffer layer in the optical modulator of FIGS. 3A and 3B;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of an optical modulator disclosed in an earlier Japanese patent application;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a further conventional optical modulator;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are cross-sectional views of further conventional optical modulators, respectively;

FIG. 12A is a plan view of a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 12A;

FIG. 13 is an illustration showing the relation of the thickness H of an overlaid layer with a microwave effective index n.sub.m and the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o in the first embodiment;

FIG. 14 is an illustration showing the relation between the light modulation band .DELTA.f.multidot.L and the thickness H of the overlaid layer in the first embodiment, in which the microwave conductor loss .alpha. is not taken into consideration;

FIG. 15 is an illustration showing the relation between the microwave conductor loss through a traveling wave electrode structure and the thickness H of the overlaid layer in the first embodiment;

FIG. 16 is an illustration showing the relation between V.pi..multidot.L and the thickness of the overlaid layer in the first embodiment;

FIG. 17 is an illustration showing the relation between the ratio (.DELTA.f/V.pi.) and the thickness H of the overlaid layer in the first embodiment;

FIG. 18A is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a modified form of the invention, using asymmetrical coplanar strips as electrodes;

FIG. 18B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of another modified form of the invention, using a directional coupler as optical waveguides, thereby providing an optical modulator or an optical switch;

FIG. 19A is a plan view of an electrically controlled optical device according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 19B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 19A;

FIGS. 20A and 20B are illustrations showing the profile of a microwave electric field in the direction of the depth;

FIG. 21 is an illustration showing the relation between the product (V.pi..multidot.L), of the half-wave voltage (driving voltage) and the electrode length, and the thickness of the buffer layer in the present invention;

FIG. 22 is an illustration showing calculation results of modulation bands in an electrically controlled optical device to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 23A is a plan view of a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 23A;

FIG. 24 is an illustration showing the relation of the depth of recessing with respect to the microwave effective index and the characteristic impedance;

FIG. 25 is an illustration showing the relation between the depth of recessing and the microwave conductor loss .alpha.;

FIG. 26 is an illustration showing the relation between the thickness of that portion of the buffer layer just above an optical waveguide and the product (V.pi..multidot.L) of the half-wave voltage V.pi. and the interacting length L;

FIG. 27A is a plan view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 27A;

FIG. 28A is a plan view of a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 28A;

FIG. 29A is a plan view of a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 29A;

FIG. 30A is a plan view of a seventh embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 30A;

FIG. 31 is an illustration explanatory of the operation of the seventh embodiment;

FIG. 32A is a plan view of an eighth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 32B is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 32A;

FIGS. 33A to 33C are views showing the steps of producing an electrically controlled optical device according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 34A to 34C are cross-sectional views of shield conductors, respectively;

FIG. 35 is an illustration showing light-frequency response characteristics of the electrically controlled optical device of the ninth embodiment; and

FIGS. 36A to 36D are views showing the steps of producing an electrically controlled optical device according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 12A is a plan view of a first embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 12B is a fragmentary, enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A' of FIG. 12A. In FIG. 12A, a shield conductor 9 is omitted for illustration purposes.

In this embodiment as in the conventional example of FIGS. 3A and 3B, a center electrode 4 and earth electrodes 5, which serve as traveling wave electrodes, are disposed above a substrate 1 of LiNbO.sub.3 having electro-optic effects and having two optical waveguides 2. In this embodiment, the shield conductor 9 is arranged through an overlaid layer 8 in the vicinity of the region where the optical waveguides 2 interact with the traveling wave electrodes 4 and 5. In this optical modulator of the above construction, the thickness of a buffer layer 3 and the thickness of the overlaid layer 8 are determined so that the microwave effective index n.sub.m of the substrate 1 with respect to a modulating microwave signal supplied from a feeder 7 to the traveling wave electrodes 4 and 5 approaches the effective index n.sub.o of light propagated through the optical waveguides 2, and so that the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o of the traveling electrodes 4 and 5 approaches the characteristic impedance of an associated external microwave circuit.

In this embodiment, the width 2W of the center electrode 4 is 8 .mu.m, and the width of the gaps 2G between the electrode 4 and the electrodes 5 is 15 .mu.m, and the width of the optical waveguides 2 is 6 .mu.m and hence is generally equal to the width of the center electrode 4. The thickness D of the buffer layer 3 of SiO.sub.2 is 1.2 .mu.m.

In this embodiment, the relation of the microwave effective index n.sub.m and the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o with the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 is analyzed according to the analysis procedure used in FIG. 4, and the results of this analysis are shown in FIG. 13.

In the optical modulator of this embodiment, using the Z-cut LiNbO.sub.3 substrate 1, it is absolutely necessary to provide the buffer layer 3 in order to reduce losses resulting from the absorption of the light (which propagates through the waveguides 2) by the electrodes 4 and 5. Here, however, in order to clarify the influence of the buffer layer 3, the calculated results both for the case of D=1.2 .mu.m and for the case of D=0 .mu.m are shown in FIG. 13.

As can be seen from FIG. 13, as the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 increases, n.sub.m and Z.sub.o approach to respective constant values. In the case where the shield conductor 9 is not provided (that is, in the case of the prior art of FIGS. 3A and 3B), such constant values correspond to the calculated values shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 13, the constant values in the case of D=1.2 .mu.m are indicated by circle marks, and the constant values in the case of D=0 .mu.m are indicated by triangular marks, and the values corresponding to these values are indicated by identical marks in FIG. 4.

As can be seen from these Figures, irrespective of the thickness D of the buffer layer 3, as the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 decreases, the value of the microwave effective index n.sub.m decreases and approaches the effective index n.sub.o of the optical waveguide 2, and also the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o decreases. However, in the case of D (thickness of the buffer layer 3)=0, when the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 is so selected that n.sub.m becomes equal to n.sub.o (=2.1), Z.sub.o is much lower than 50.+-.10 .OMEGA. and is about 16 .OMEGA.. Therefore, an impedance mismatching occurs, and as a result broad-band operation can not be expected.

On the other hand, in the case of D=1.2 .mu.m, when the thickness of the overlaid layer 8 is about 5 .mu.m, Z.sub.o is about 42 .OMEGA., and good matching with the external circuit can be achieved, and also n.sub.m and n.sub.o can be close to each other. Therefore, broad-band operation can be achieved as shown in FIG. 14. By suitably determining the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 and the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8, the desired characteristic impedance Z.sub.o and the desired band .DELTA.f.multidot.L can be achieved.

FIG. 15 shows the results of the calculation of the microwave conductor loss .alpha. according to the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 in the embodiment of FIGS. 12A and 12B. Here, the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 is used as a parameter. As can be seen from FIG. 15, when the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 is large, the microwave conductor loss .alpha. can be reduced, which is advantageous for broad-band operation. .alpha. increases with a decrease of H, but it is clear from FIG. 15 that the degree of such increase is small.

FIG. 16 shows the results of the calculation of V.pi..multidot.L according to the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 in the embodiment of FIGS. 12A and 12B. Here, the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 is 1.2 .mu.m. As can be seen from FIG. 16, the influence of the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 on V.pi..multidot.L is sufficiently small.

FIG. 17 shows the value of .DELTA.f/V.pi. when the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 is used as a variable. This value is small, that is, less than 2, in the prior art shown in FIG. 7. However, as can be seen from FIG. 17, in this embodiment, .DELTA.f/V.pi. can be increased greatly.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the thickness D of the buffer layer 3 of SiO.sub.2 is 1.2 .mu.m, light modulation can be achieved over an extremely broad band if the thickness H of the overlaid layer 8 is in the range of between about 5 .mu.m and about 10 .mu.m. Therefore, when the length L of the CPW electrodes 4 and 5 (that is, the length L of interaction between the microwave and the light) is 2 cm, the half-wave voltage can be set to a low level of about 6.7 V over a light modulation band of several tens to several hundreds GHz. Also, the characteristic impedance Z.sub.o can be set to 44 to 55 .OMEGA., and can well match the characteristic impedance of the external circuit.

In this embodiment, although the thickness D of the SiO.sub.2 buffer layer 3 is 1.2 .mu.m, the values of D, H and 2G can be suitably changed according to the desired modulation band so that Z.sub.o can be 50 .OMEGA..

Although the substrate 1 having the optical waveguides 2 formed therein is made of LiNbO.sub.3, the substrate can be made of any other suitable material having electro-optic effects, such as LiTaO.sub.3 and KTiOPO.sub.4.

Further, by using linear optical waveguides or a directional coupler as the optical waveguides 2, a phase modulator or a switch can be constructed. Further, the optical waveguides 2 can be formed by ion exchange or by the formation of ridges, instead of Ti thermal diffusion.

In this embodiment, although the traveling wave electrodes 4 and 5 have been described as the CPW electrodes, the traveling wave electrodes can be constituted, for example, as asymmetrical coplanar strip electrodes 10 and 11 as shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B. The electrodes 10 and 11 are respectively a central electrode and an earth electrode of the asymmetrical coplanar strip formed on the buffer layer 3 of SiO.sub.2.

In the structure of FIG. 18A, Mach-Zehnder optical waveguides are used as the optical waveguides 2. FIG. 18B shows an optical switch employing a directional coupler in which two optical waveguides 2 are connected together and disposed close to each other.

If linear waveguides are used, an optical phase modulator can be constructed, in which case an X-cut LiNbO.sub.3 substrate may be used.

FIGS. 19A and 19B show a second embodiment of an electrically controlled optical device in accordance with the present invention. This embodiment of FIG. 19 differs from the prior art of FIGS. 1 and 2 in that the buffer layer 3 is made of a Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene)-type resin (dielectric constant: .epsilon..apprxeq.1.9) instead of silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2 ; dielectric constant: .epsilon..apprxeq.3.9). Such Teflon-type resins are, for example, those (dielectric constant: .epsilon..apprxeq.1.9; refractive index: n.apprxeq.1.3) described in Nikkei New Material, 8-7, p. 17, 1989, and the buffer layer 3 can be provided by forming such a Teflon-type material with a thickness of not more than 1 .mu.m, using spin coating, sputtering or the like.

FIGS. 20A and 20B show profiles of the intensity of the electric field in the direction of the depth in the embodiment of FIG. 19, in the case where traveling wave electrodes formed on the buffer layer 3 comprises a center electrode 4 having a width 2W of 8 .mu.m and earth electrodes 5, and the width of the gaps 2G between the center electrode 4 and the earth electrodes 5 is 15 .mu.m. FIG. 20A shows the profiles which the thickness of the buffer layer 3 is 0.5 .mu.m, and FIG. 20B shows the profiles when the thickness of the buffer layer 3 is 1.2 .mu.m. It is clear that the thickness of the buffer layer 3 influences the interaction between the microwave and the light wave. FIG. 21 shows the calculation results representing the relation of the product (V.pi..multidot.L) of the half-wave voltage (driving voltage) and the electrode length with the thickness of the buffer layer. In the present invention, when estimating, from the difference in dielectric constant, the thickness of the buffer layer required to obtain the same n.sub.m as in the prior art, it has been found that it is possible to reduce the thickness by about 30% as compared with the prior art. Therefore, it is surmised that V.pi..multidot.L can be about 3/4, which means that when the electrode length is the same, the driving voltage can be reduced by about 25%.

FIG. 22 shows the results of the calculation of the modulation band, obtained when the present invention is applied to the prior art of FIG. 2. When the prior art is so designed that the driving voltage is not more than 5 V at an operating wavelength of 1.5 .mu.m, the required electrode length is about 2.7 cm, and the modulation band is 20 to 30 GHz. By applying the present invention, the electrode length can be shortened to about 2.0 cm, and therefore it is surmised that the modulation band is not less than 50 GHZ.

FIGS. 23A and 23B show a third embodiment of the present invention in which an X-cut LiNbO.sub.3 substrate 1 is used. In this embodiment, a thick buffer layer 3 having a low dielectric constant is disposed beneath electrodes 4 and 5, and the edges of the electrodes, which generate lines of strong electric forces, are spaced apart considerably from the substrate 1. Therefore, the effect of reducing the dielectric constant is excellent. For producing this structure, optical waveguides 2 are formed in the substrate 1 by an ordinary Ti thermal diffusion method. Then, while leaving those sections of the surface portion of the substrate 1 that include the optical waveguides 2, part or the whole of the remainder of the surface portion is removed by etching, so that the surface of the substrate is recessed except for protruding portions that include the optical waveguides therein. FIG. 24 shows the relation of the depth of the recessing of the substrate 1 to the microwave effective index and the characteristic impedance. It can be seen from FIG. 24 that as the depth of the recessing increases, the microwave effective index decreases. FIG. 25 shows the relation between the depth of the recessing and the microwave conductor loss .alpha.. It can be seen from FIG. 25 that as the depth of the recessing increases, the microwave conductor loss decreases. FIG. 26 shows the relation between the thickness of those portions of the buffer layer 3 disposed just above the optical waveguides 2 and V.pi..multidot.L (V.pi.: half-wave voltage; L: interacting length). In the present invention, since the thickness of those portions of the buffer layer 3 above the optical waveguides 2 is small, the driving voltage can be kept to a low level.

In other words, in this embodiment, not only can the effective index of the microwave and the microwave conductor loss be reduced by using a thick buffer layer, but also the driving voltage can be limited by using a thin buffer layer.

FIGS. 27A and 27B show a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the third embodiment of FIG. 23 in that a shield conductor 9 is additionally provided, so that even if the depth of the recessing is small, complete matching between the effective refractive indexes of the microwave and the light can be achieved. In this embodiment, since the driving voltage is as low as that in the third embodiment, the interacting length L required to obtain the desired driving voltage can be short. Therefore, the band of the light modulation can be correspondingly widened.

FIGS. 28A and 28B show a fifth embodiment of the present invention in which a Z-cut LiNbO.sub.3 substrate 1 is used. The principle of the widening of the band will be described with respect to the center electrode 4. In the vicinity of the electrodes, that is, at the thin regions of buffer layer 3, the electric field intensity Ey in the direction of the depth is not constant across the width 2W of the center electrode 4, and becomes abruptly strong near the edges of the electrodes. Therefore, if there exists a thick buffer layer at the region where the electric field intensity Ey in the direction of the depth is strong, this will provide the effect of reducing the microwave effective index. In practice, if the width 2W of the center electrode 4 is made generally equal to or slightly greater than the width of the protruding portion of the substrate where the optical waveguide is provided s that the abrupt electric field in the vicinity of the edge of the electrode can perceive the thicker portion of the buffer layer, the microwave effective index is reduced.

FIGS. 29A and 29B show a sixth embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the fifth embodiment of FIG. 28 in that a shield conductor 9 is additionally provided, so that even if the depth of the recessing is small, a complete matching between the effective refractive indexes of the microwave and the light can be achieved. In this embodiment, since the driving voltage is as low as that in the fifth embodiment, the interacting length L required to obtain the desired driving voltage can be short. Therefore, the band of the light modulation can be correspondingly widened.

In the above embodiments, although Mach-Zehnder optical waveguides are used as the optical waveguides, a phase modulator can be provided if only the optical waveguide disposed beneath the center electrode is used in the third and fourth embodiments, or if only one of the optical waveguides is used in the fifth and sixth embodiments.

In the above embodiments, although the electrodes are constituted by a coplanar waveguide, any other suitable electrode structure such as an asymmetrical coplanar strip may be used. Also, the substrate may be a Y-cut substrate of LiNbO.sub.3 or any other suitable substrate insofar as they have electro-optic effects. Further, since the shield conductor is only required to serve as an electric wall, the shield conductor is not necessarily grounded to the earth electrode, and may be supported through a spacer.

FIGS. 30A and 30B show the present invention embodied in a Mach-Zehnder light intensity modulator using a Z-cut substrate 1 of LiNbO.sub.3. In this seventh embodiment, a slot 12 is formed through an earth electrode 5.

The width of a narrow conductor portion of the earth electrode is designated by 2W'. The center electrode 4 has a width 2W of 8 .mu.m, the gap 2G between the center electrode 4 and the earth electrode 5 is 15 .mu.m, and the buffer layer 3 of SiO.sub.2 has a thickness of 1.2 .mu.m. FIG. 31 shows the value of the product (V.pi..multidot.L) of the half-wave voltage V.pi. and the interacting length L when 2W' is 8 .mu.m and the width 2S of the slot 12 is a variable. As can be seen from FIG. 31, as the width 2S of the slot 12 increases, the value of the product (V.pi..multidot.L) decreases. The reason for this is that the lines of electric force generated from the center electrode 4 concentrate on the narrow conductor portion (having the width 2W') of the earth electrode 5. Therefore, the driving voltage can be reduced, and the interacting length required for obtaining the desired driving voltage can be shortened. As a result, the band can be greatly widened.

FIGS. 32A and 32B show an eighth embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the seventh embodiment of FIG. 30 in that a shield conductor 9 is additionally provided, so that the effective refractive indexes of the microwave and the light can coincide with each other, thereby achieving light modulation over quite a wide band.

In the seventh and eighth embodiments, although a Z-cut substrate 1 is used, an X-cut substrate can be used instead, in which case another identical slot would also be formed through the other earth electrode, and the two optical waveguides would be disposed near the centerlines of the gaps on the opposite sides of the center electrode.

FIGS. 33A-33C show the steps for producing an electrically controlled optical device according to the present invention. In FIG. 33A, optical waveguides 2 are formed at the surface of a Z-cut substrate of LiNbO.sub.3, for example, by the Ti diffusion method. More specifically, patterns of Ti, for example, having a width of about 4 to about 9 .mu.m and a length of 1 to 6 cm are formed, for example, by electron beam deposition and photolithography. Thereafter, the Ti is diffused into the substrate of LiNbO.sub.3 by heat treatment to form the optical waveguides 2. Then, in FIG. 33B, using plasma CVD or the like, a SiO.sub.2 layer is formed as the buffer layer 3 on the surface of the LiNbO.sub.3 substrate 1 having the optical waveguides 2 therein. Then, by means of vacuum deposition or the like, plating and photolithography, the center electrode 4 and earth electrodes 5 are formed on the buffer layer 3, using, for example, gold (Au), the thickness of these electrodes being, for example, 4 to 5 .mu.m. Then, in FIG. 33C, a preformed shield conductor 9 with a groove having a depth of 0 to about 2 .mu.m is fixed by an adhesive, thereby completing the electrically controlled optical device.

FIGS. 34A-34C show examples of the shield conductor 9 having a groove for forming an overlaid layer 8. In FIG. 34A, the groove is formed either by a wet etching technique, in which photolithography and an etchant are applied to metal, or by a dry etching technique, in which plasma or an ion beam is used. FIG. 34B shows a structure which is designed to overcome various stability and reliability problems caused by thermal stresses due to a difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the substrate 1 and the shield conductor 9 and other factors. More specifically, using, for example, vacuum deposition and plating, a metal layer of about 10 .mu.m thickness for constituting the conductor shield 9 is formed on a support base 14, which is the same material as the substrate 1 and has the same crystalline orientation as the substrate 1. Then, the groove is formed in the metal layer according to the same procedure as in FIG. 34A. In FIG. 34C, before a shield conductor 9 is formed, a groove is formed in the support base 14 either by a wet etching technique, in which photolithography and an etchant are used, or by a dry etching technique, in which plasma or an ion beam is used.

FIG. 35 shows the light-frequency response characteristics of a light intensity modulator produced according to the same procedure described in FIGS. 33 and 34B. More specifically, this light intensity modulator was prepared according to the following procedure. Optical waveguides 2 were formed in a substrate 1 of LiNbO.sub.3 by the Ti diffusion method. Then, a buffer layer 3 of SiO.sub.2 having a thickness of 1.2 .mu.m was formed on the substrate 1, and then a traveling wave electrode structure having a thickness of about 4.5 .mu.m and having a center electrode 4 and earth electrodes 5 was formed on the buffer layer 3. The width 2W of the center electrode 4 was 8 .mu.m, and the gap 2G was 15 .mu.m. Then, a conductor layer of gold was formed on a support base 14 of LiNbO.sub.3 by an electron beam deposition method and plating. Then, a groove was precisely formed in the conductor layer by photolithography and the ion beam method to form the shield conductor 9. Then, the shield conductor 9 was fixed by an adhesive so as to cover the center electrode 4 and the earth electrodes 5. In FIG. 35, square marks indicate the light-frequency response characteristics before the shield conductor was attached, and the 3 dB band was about 8 GHz. 0 marks indicate the light-frequency response characteristics of the light modulator when the depth of the groove in the shield conductor was 0.5 .mu.m, and the 3 dB band was about 18 GHz. .DELTA. marks indicates the light-frequency response characteristics of the light modulator when the depth of the groove in the shield conductor was 0.9 .mu.m, and the 3 dB band was about 15 GHz. Thus, the effects of widening the band are clear.

FIGS. 36A-36D show a further modified embodiment. In FIGS. 36A and 36B, according to the same procedure as in the ninth embodiment, optical waveguides 2, a buffer layer 3 and traveling wave electrodes 4 and 5 were sequentially formed on a substrate 1 of LiNbO.sub.3. Then, as shown in FIG. 36C, spacers 16 of a predetermined height for controlling the thickness of an overlaid layer 8 were formed on the electrodes 5 by photolithography and plating. Then, in FIG. 36D, a shield conductor 9, for example, similar to that shown in FIGS. 34A and 34B but having no groove, was fixed, thereby completing an electrically controlled optical device.

The invention has been described in detail with respect to the preferred embodiments, and it will now be apparent from the foregoing to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and it is the intention, therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit of the invention.