Antenna-coupled millimeter-wave LiNbO/sub 3/ electro-optic modulator

Abstract

The phase-velocity mismatch due to material dispersion in traveling-wave LiNbO_3 optical waveguide modulators may be greatly reduced by breaking the modulation transmission line into short segments and connecting each segment to its own surface antenna. The array of antennas is then illuminated by the modulation signal at an angle which produces a delay from antenna to antenna to match the optical waveguide's delay.