Effects of parasitic modes in high-speed LiNbO3

optical modulators
Woo Kyung Kim, Woo-Seok Yang, and Han-Young Lee
Korea Electronics Technology Institute, #455-6 Masan-ri, Jinwi-myun, Pyungtaek-si, Kyunggi-do 451-865, Republic
of Korea
hylee@keti.re.kr

Abstract: The characteristics of RF parasitic modes and the methods to

suppress leakage phenomena in LiNbO3 optical modulators were studied.
The dominant zero-cutoff CBCPW modes and several undesired parasitic
modes were analyzed with two-dimensional FEM. The effect of parasitic
modes on high frequency RF power transmission characteristics were
simulated and experimented in the respects of LiNbO3 wafer thickness, the
kind of material contacting the back surface of the modulator chip, the gap
and width of the CPW electrodes. An appropriate RF electrode geometry, to
minimize coupling efficiency between co-planar waveguide and substrate
mode, is presented. Experimental results proved that the approaches made
in this work are effective for broadening of modulation bandwidth.
©2004 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (060.4080) Modulation; (130.3120) Integrated optics devices; (130.3730)
Lithium niobate; (230.2090) Electro-optical devices

References and links

1. R. A. Becker, "Traveling-wave electro-optic modulator with maximum bandwidth product," Appl. Phys. Lett. 45,
1168-1170 (1984).
2. G. K. Gopalakrishnan, W. K. Burns, and C. H. Bulmer, "Electrical loss mechanism in traveling wave LiNbO3
Optical Modulator," Electron. Lett. 28, 207-209 (1992).
3. Jajid riaziat, Reza Majidi-Ahy, and I-Juang Feng, "Propagation modes and dispersion characteristics of coplanar
waveguides," IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and Technol. 38, 245-251 (1990).
4. Xiang Zhang, and Tanroku Miyoshi, "Optimum design of coplanar waveguide for LiNbO3 optical modulator,"
IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Technol. 43, 523-528 (1995)
5. Jeng-Wen Huang, and Ching-Kuang C. Tzuang, "Mode-coupling-avoidance of shielded conductor-backed
coplanar waveguide using dielectric lines compensation," IEEE MTT-S Digest, 149-152 (1994).
6. Rangaraj Madabhushi, Yukio Uematsu, Mitsuhiro Kitamura, "Wide-band Ti: LiNbO3 optical modulators with
reduced microwave attenuation," ECOC 1997, 2, 29-32 (1997).

1. Introduction
Owing to rapid expansion of multimedia and wireless telecommunications and explosive
growth of internet population, broadband optical telecommunication technologies are getting
more important. A LiNbO3 optical modulator is a core device of the high-speed optical
telecommunication system, and CPW electrodes are essentially adapted for wideband
modulation optical devices [1].
The performance of optical modulators is roughly determined by 3dB modulation
bandwidth and driving voltage, which can be optimized by phase velocity matching of light
propagating along optical waveguides and microwave traveling along CPW electrodes.
Besides phase velocity matching, other factors to consider for broadband modulation are
propagation loss, characteristic impedance mismatching of CPW electrodes and RF power

#3971 - $15.00 US Received 3 March 2004; revised 21 May 2004; accepted 24 May 2004
(C) 2004 OSA 14 June 2004 / Vol. 12, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 2568
leakage into high-order substrate mode [2]. The high-order substrate modes result from high
value of the relative permittivity of LiNbO3 itself and cause signal distortion through
microwave coupling with traveling CPW modes [3].
This work analyzes the characteristics of parasitic modes existing in LiNbO3 substrates by
two-dimensional FEM (Finite Element Method) and the effect of parasitic modes on RF
Power transmission characteristics of dominant zero cut-off CBCPW(Conductor-Backed
Coplanar Waveguides). From simulation results, it will be discussed that the generation of the
high-order substrate mode can be suppressed (to say more precisely, the frequency can be
shifted toward higher frequency) by decreasing the thickness of LiNbO3 substrates and that
the microwave coupling between electrode CBCPW modes and parasitic modes can be
reduced by modification of the electrode structure. Some experimental results will be
presented to support the above discussions.
2. Numerical analysis of parasitic modes in CBCPW structure
Figure 1 shows the schematic diagrams of a LiNbO3 optical modulator fabricated in this work.
High relative permittivity of LiNbO3 (εx = 43, εz = 28) makes simultaneous matching of
RF/optic phase velocity and characteristic impedance difficult in a LiNbO3 modulator with a
general CPW electrode structure. This is the reason why a thick SiO2 buffer layer and thick
CPW electrodes as shown in Fig. 1 [4] are frequently required.
25 µm 8 µm

Gold 20 µm
SiO2(ε=3.9) 0.9 µm

z
W S h
LiNbO3 (εx=43, εz=28)
29 mm x

(a) (b)
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of CPW electrodes in a LiNbO3 traveling wave optical
modulator; (a) top view and (b) cross-section view in a interaction region

Other negative feature of the high relative permittivity of LiNbO3 substrates is to induce
high-order parasitic modes at frequencies lower than the modulation bandwidth. The parasitic
modes generated in the substrate can be coupled with the electrode CBCPW modes and
distort consequently the signal traveling along the electrode. Since the electric field formed in
the input launch region of the high speed modulator is distributed considerably broad
compared with the electric field distribution formed in the interaction region for modulation,
even the short length of the input launch region can significantly distort the signal.
h

Electrode a
S W

b
z LiNbO3 (εx=43, εz=28)

x
Metal Wall
Fig. 2. Physical structure for analysis of propagation characteristics in a launch
section.
Figure 2 shows a physical structure for analysis of propagation characteristics in a launch
section. If we assume electric field, E = Εe − jβ y , which propagate along y-axis with
propagation constant β , the scalar wave equation governing the wave behavior in the
waveguide of Fig. 2 can be written as

#3971 - $15.00 US Received 3 March 2004; revised 21 May 2004; accepted 24 May 2004
(C) 2004 OSA 14 June 2004 / Vol. 12, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 2569
 [∇ T
2
]
+ β 2 Ε (x, z ) = 0 (1)
∧ ∧ ∧ ∧
   
Ε =  z Ψz + y Ψy  e − jβ y for Ez mode, and Ε =  x Ψx + y Ψy  e − jβ y for Ex mode (2)
   
Ez and Ex modes are defined as given by (2) and their propagation characteristics are
calculated from Eq. (1) by FEM. Figure 3 depicts the field plots for the CBCPW and first few
parasitic Ez modes. The field components have been normalized to their maximum values.
Since the field distribution in CBCPW is symmetric about the center plane, only Ez10 modes
and Ez30 with even field distribution can coupled with CBCPW mode.
24
CBCPW
22
1.0 TM 10
TM 20 20
launch section
TM 30 18
0.5
16
14

εeff
E z| 0.0 Ez10 Ez20 Ez30 Ez40 Ez50 Ez60
12
Ez70
10
-0.5 8 Ez80
6 active region
-1.0 4 Ez90
2
-1.0 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0 10 20 30 40

x (mm) Frequency [ GHz ]

Fig. 3. plot of CBCPW and parasitic modes Fig. 4. Effective relative permittivity of the
Ez at 50GHz and z=b-0.05 mm (a=1mm, parasitic modes as a function of frequency
b=0.5mm, W=0.2mm, S=0.3mm, h=2mm) (b=0.5mm, W=0.2mm, S=0.3mm, h=7mm)

Figure 4 shows the effective relative permittivity dispersion curve of the parasitic modes
as a function of frequency for the given structure. The number of the substrate mode increases
with frequency. Two horizontal lines indicate effective dielectric constant in launch and active
regions, respectively. Strong distortion of the RF signal in a launch section occurs at the
points which are marked by arrows since the coupling can be maximized under the phase
velocity matching condition. Mode coupling can be occurred also in taper and active regions.
Figure 5 is the power transmission curve of the fabricated modulator chip, measured by a
G-S-G probe with 500 µm pitch. Close investigation of the measurement results reveals that
the first dip appears around 7 GHz and that the frequency gap between dips at higher
frequencies gets closer. The dips in the transmission curve are attributed to the coupling of the
CPW modes to the substrate modes, and this kind of leakage should be suppressed for
broadband modulation.
0

S21[dB] -5

-10
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Frequency[GHz]
Fig. 5. S21 of the fabricated CPW electrode to show leaky modes; W = 0.15 mm, S =
0.3 mm, and b = 0.5 mm.
3. Methods of suppression of substrate mode coupling
3.1. Addition of low dielectric constant material to the back-side of the LiNbO3 chip [5]

#3971 - $15.00 US Received 3 March 2004; revised 21 May 2004; accepted 24 May 2004
(C) 2004 OSA 14 June 2004 / Vol. 12, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 2570
 h 24
22 Ezm0
20 Exn1
18 launch section
Electrode a
S W 16

εeff 14
12

b 10
LiNbO3 (εx=43, εz=28)
8
6 active region
εc 4
z c
2
0 10 20 30 40
x
Metal Wall Frequency [ GHz ]

(a) (b)
Fig. 6. Parasitic mode characteristics in multi-layered waveguide structure; (a)
physical structure for analysis, (b) dispersion curve
Figure 6 shows the schematic of the CPW structure where a low dielectric constant material
(εc = 4 for a quartz glass) is backed to the LiNbO3 chip and the simulation result of the
relative permittivity of the parasitic modes as a function of frequency. While the effective
dielectric constant of Ezm0 (m=1, 2, 3,⋅⋅⋅) gets lower, compared with the structure shown in fig.
4, and the longitudinal mode, Exn1 (n=0, 1, 2, 3,⋅⋅⋅) is generated when a low dielectric constant
material with εc = 4 is added to the back side of the modulator chip. A close investigation on
Fig. 6 reveals that there is no point where phase velocity matching condition is satisfied in the
launch section up to 30GHz. Consequently, the distortion of the RF signal arises only in the
taper region or in the active region where the coupling efficiency is comparatively low. Fig. 7
shows the S21 results of the fabricated CPW electrodes with the conductor backed and the
glass backed structures. In the dielectric material backed structure, the dip, resulting from
coupling between the CPW mode and the substrate mode, was clearly suppressed below 17
GHz and the effect of the coupling was not remarkable at higher frequencies.
0
Conductor backed
Glass backed

S21[dB]
-5

-10
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Frequency[GHz]
Fig. 7. The transmission characteristics of the CPW electrodes for the conductor
backed (circled line) and the glass backed (solid line) structures; W = 0.15 mm, S =
0.3 mm, b = 0.5 mm, and c = 0.5 mm.

3.2. Modification of the CPW dimension at the RF power launch region[6]

The degree of the energy exchange between interacting modes by coupling depends on the
inter-modal overlap and the overlap length. Since the electric field in the input launch region
of the high speed modulator is distributed considerably broad compared with the electric field
distribution in the interaction region for modulation, even the short length of the input launch
region can significantly distort the signal. For this reason, the geometry and dimension of the
input region can exert a conclusive effect on the modulation bandwidth. Figure 8 explains the
effect of the electrode dimension in the input region on the signal transmission.

#3971 - $15.00 US Received 3 March 2004; revised 21 May 2004; accepted 24 May 2004
(C) 2004 OSA 14 June 2004 / Vol. 12, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 2571
 0.30

0.25

overlap integral
0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
W+2S [mm]
Fig. 8. The overlap integral of the CBCPW and parasitic modes Ezm0 , b = 0.5 mm,
h=2mm, f=50GHz.
Figure 8 is the overlap integral of CBCPW mode and parasitic modes Ezm0 as a function of
W+2S for the given structure. A close investigation on Fig. 8 reveals that the amount of
overlap integral (coupling coefficient) increases with W+2S. Figure 9 is the S21 measurement
results of the fabricated CPW electrodes with different dimension at the RF launch region
while keeping the other conditions, such as electrode thickness and CPW dimensions in the
interaction region, identical. The only difference between the measured samples is the width
(W) and the separation (S) of the CPW electrodes in the RF launch region. It should be
noticed that the ratio of separation to width was kept constant to match the characteristic
impedance 50 Ω. As shown in the low-side figure of Fig. 9, which shows the details of
measurement results in the frequency range of 15 GHz to 30 GHz, the dips appear at similar
frequencies in all the samples with different CPW dimensions, but the fall of the dip
decreased with reduction of the CPW dimension. This means that the mode overlap for
coupling between the CPW mode and the substrate mode can be suppressed by reduction of
the CPW dimension. A close investigation on Fig. 9 says that the effect of the substrate mode
on the CPW signal transmission is insignificant for the modulator sample with W = 0.07 mm
and S = 0.16 mm, which is reasonably the smallest dimension in practice when considering
wire or ribbon bonding for modulator packaging.
0

-2
S21[dB]

-4

-6

-8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Frequency[GHz]
-4
S21[dB]

-6 W=0.07mm, S=0.16mm
W=0.10mm, S=0.30mm
W=0.15mm, S=0.40mm
W=0.20mm, S=0.50mm

-8
15 20 25 30
Frequency[GHz]

Fig. 9. S21 measurement results of the fabricated CPW electrodes with different
dimensions at the RF launch region while keeping the dimension of the other area
identical; εc = 4, b = 0.5 mm, and c = 0.5 mm in the structure shown in Fig. 4. (a).

3.3. Thinner LiNbO3 substrates

Figure 10 shows signal transmission characteristics of the optical modulators fabricated on
LiNbO3 substrates with different wafer thickness. The first dip appears at 10 GHz, 20 GHz
and 24 GHz for wafer thickness of 1.0 mm, 0.5 mm and 0.4 mm, respectively. This should be
is due to the dependence of the cutoff frequency of the substrate mode on the substrate

#3971 - $15.00 US Received 3 March 2004; revised 21 May 2004; accepted 24 May 2004
(C) 2004 OSA 14 June 2004 / Vol. 12, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 2572
thickness. The experimental results show that the LiNbO3 substrate as thin as 0.4 mm at least
should be adapted for 40Gbps modulation.
0
b=1.0mm
b=0.5mm
b=0.4mm
-5

S11[dB]
-10

-15
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Frequency[GHz]
Fig. 10. S21 measurement results of the CPW electrodes fabricated on LiNbO3
substrates with different thickness, b; W = 0.25 mm, S = 0.5 mm, c = 0.5 mm, and εc
= 4.
4. RF characteristics of packaged samples
Fig. 11 shows package samples and measured s-parameter results with different structure to
investigate the effect of parasitic mode in launch section and in active region. From Sections
3.1 and 3.2, we can expect that the signal distortion can be minimized by addition of low
dielectric constant material, and the effect of added material is stronger in the launch section
than in the active region. The result of Fig 11(c) confirms that our trial in this paper is helpful
for broadening of modulation bandwidth.

0 0 0

-5 -5 -5

-10 -10 -10

S11[dB], S21[dB]
S11[dB], S21[dB]

S11[dB], S21[dB]

-15 -15 -15

-20 -20 -20

-25 -25 -25

-30 -30 -30

-35 -35 -35

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Frequency[GHz] Frequency[GHz] Frequency[GHz]

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 11. Packaged samples and measured s-parameter results with different
structure;
(a) type A (b) type B (c) type C
5. Discussions and conclusions
This work analyzed the effect of parasitic substrate mode launching from the CPW input
electrode into a LiNbO3 substrate on modulation bandwidth and proposed the methods to
minimize the distortion of the RF signal. The substrate modes induced in a conventional CPW
LiNbO3 modulator were characterized by approximate modeling and numerical simulation,
based on which various experiments were conducted for substrate mode suppression.
The effective dielectric constant of a fundamental parasitic mode was decreased by
backing a low dielectric constant material on the modulator chip, and the coupling between
the CPW mode and the substrate mode was minimized by reduction of the dimension of the
CPW electrode in the RF launch section. Additionally, the dependence of the cutoff frequency
of the parasitic mode on substrate thickness was experimentally demonstrated. In conclusion,
the methods suggested and experimentally demonstrated in this work will contribute, in
practice, to realization of ultra broadband modulators.

#3971 - $15.00 US Received 3 March 2004; revised 21 May 2004; accepted 24 May 2004
(C) 2004 OSA 14 June 2004 / Vol. 12, No. 12 / OPTICS EXPRESS 2573