Design and fabrication of millimeter wave photonic modulators

In this paper we presented the modeling, design and fabrication of a millimeter wave (MMW) photonic modulator operating at 94 GHz. Our approach combines high quality factor (Q) photonic cavities with the nonlinear property of an electro-optic material that interacts with the applied millimeter wave to achieve optical modulation. The high Q values and strong field densities associated with whispering gallery modes in microdisk resonators result in the enhancement of the nonlinear interaction of optical fields with a material that exhibits coherent attributes, even with weak millimeter waves. To achieve efficient modulation, careful designs are implemented and initial experimental results are presented.