US Patent 9746743 Electro-optic optical modulator devices and method of fabrication

A novel electro-optic optical modulator device and a related method for creating the novel optical modulator device are disclosed. In one embodiment, the novel optical modulator comprises a high index contrast optical waveguide, a mesa region, electrical modulation electrodes, RF transmission lines, and interconnection layers. The high index contrast optical waveguide comprises an electro-optic slab core region and a high index ridge core region. A mesa section which includes the core regions can be formed, and electrical modulation electrodes are placed on etched sidewalls of the mesa section to achieve electro-optical index modulation of the electro-optic slab core region. The RF transmission lines include RF electrodes that connected to the electrical modulation electrodes. The interconnection layers connect the modulation electrodes with the RF electrodes by using etched vias. The novel optical modulator can also incorporate foldable modulation arms for poling in the electro-optic slab core region.