High tolerances for a low-voltage, high-contrast, low-insertion-loss asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulator

The authors report on the reduction of the operating voltage of a GaAs/AlGaAs multiple-quantum-well asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulator to approximately 4.2 V for a high-contrast ( approximately 15 dB), low-insertion-loss ( approximately 3 dB) device. This improvement on modulator performance makes the device suitable for a practical system and has been accomplished by an increase of the front reflectivity to approximately 43%. The authors discuss general design issues and show that the higher finesse cavity does not have to lead to low fabrication and environmental tolerances. On the contrary, this device´s tolerance to fabrication and environmental factors is expected to have been improved.<>