Optical confinement factor in waveguide electroabsorption modulators: design and measurement

In this paper, we show that optical confinement factor (/spl gamma/) can be a powerful design tool for optimizing the total performance of waveguide electroabsorption modulator, provided the material design is also optimized. In particular, a small-/spl gamma/, large-core waveguide design not only reduces the fiber-to-fiber insertion loss, but also improves the robustness of the waveguide mode, as shown by the experimental measurement of /spl gamma/ as a function of applied voltage for two types of waveguides.<>