Ultra-Broadband Modulator Packaging for Millimeter-Wave Applications

Author

Macario, Julien ; Mercante, Andrew ; Peng Yao ; Zablocki, Alicia ; Shouyuan Shi ; Prather, Dennis W.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

Volume

62

Issue

2

fYear

2014

fDate

Feb. 2014

Firstpage

306

Lastpage

312

Abstract

This paper reports the RF packaging design for electrooptic modulators operating in the millimeter-wave domain and discusses the RF and optical performances of the module. An LiNbO₃ phase modulator has been integrated in a compact housing offering a 1.0-mm RF coaxial input connector. A coplanar waveguide on a low dielectric-loss alumina substrate has been designed to transition the RF field from the connector to the modulator. A RF insertion loss in the 1-2.5-dB range has been measured for the module over the 70-110-GHz bandwidth. A half-wave voltage comprised between 8.6 V at dc and 20 V at 110 GHz was calculated based on the observation of the optical modulation sidebands over the entire 110-GHz bandwidth. The optical insertion loss of the module was measured at 2.8 dB.

Keywords

coplanar waveguides; electro-optical modulation; electronics packaging; lithium compounds; niobium compounds; phase modulation; LiNbO₃; RF coaxial input connector; RF packaging design; RF performances; bandwidth 70 GHz to 110 GHz; coplanar waveguide; electrooptic modulators; loss 1 dB to 2.5 dB; loss 2.8 dB; millimeter-wave applications; optical modulation sidebands; optical performances; phase modulator; size 1.0 mm; ultra-broadband modulator packaging; Connectors; Coplanar waveguides; Loss measurement; Optical modulation; Radio frequency; Substrates; 1.0-mm connector; ${hbox{LiNbO}}_{3}$; RF transition; modulator; packaging;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMTT.2013.2295769

Filename

6702509