Suppressing DC Drift in Thin-Film Lithium Niobate Modulators via Multiferroic Skyrmion Excitation

Abstract

Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) modulators, despite their superior electro-optic performance, face critical DC drift challenges under low-frequency or prolonged operation. In this work, we demonstrate a novel suppression strategy by exciting multiferroic skyrmions in TFLN, achieving drift-free square-wave modulation for voer 1 hour-the first solution eliminating feedback systems. This breakthrough originates from dual carrier suppression mechanisms:(1) charge density reduction via skyrmion-induced polarization nano-regions (PNRs) excitation, and (2) mean free path restriction through polarization gradients at PNRs domain walls. By directly targeting the root cause of DC drift-mobile charge redistribution-our method uniquely preserves the essential SiO2 upper cladding, resolving the longstanding trade-off between drift mitigation and waveguide protection. Crucially, our work also provides the first experimental observation of interconversion between short-term drift (seconds-scale transient overshoot) and long-term drift (hours-scale baseline shift), offering critical insights into their unified origin.