Large bandwidth InP Bragg cells for optical translation at 1.5 μm

Large bandwidth InP Bragg cells for optical translation use at the wavelength of 1.5 μm were designed and fabricated. InP was chosen as the best material for electronically tunable optical translation applications, in optic fiber systems operating at 1.5 μm. The transducer is a lithium niobate plate, which is bonded with gold at room temperature under high pressure to a ⟨110⟩ oriented InP Cell. It is then thinned down to submicron thickness using ionic etching, a process which can yield central frequencies exceeding 1 GHz. The technology allows the design of very small electrode dimensions for high bandwidth, high efficiency applications. The Bragg cells were characterized at the optical wavelength of 1.5 μm. Electrical characteristics showed that low loss 50 Ω electrical matching was achieved in a 1 GHz bandwidth. Electrooptical 3 dB bandwidths up to 1 GHz were measured on 50×100 μm² electrodes. The associated effective acousto-optical interaction efficiencies were determined to be up to 6%/Wrf