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arXiv · 2512.20090

High efficiency and compact lithium niobate non-resonant recirculating phase modulator and its applications

Feiyu Wang·Liheng Wang·Mingrui Yuan·Zhen Han·Binjie Wang·Yong Zheng·Pu Zhang·Yongheng Jiang·Huifu Xiao·Mei Xian Low·Aditya Dubey·Thach Giang Nguyen·Guanghui Ren·Arnan Mitchell·Yonghui Tian
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Abstract

High modulation efficiency and a compact footprint are critical for next-generation electro-optic (EO) modulators. We introduce a new class of non-resonant recirculating phase modulators (PMs) that boosts modulation efficiency by repeatedly modulating the optical field within a single, non-resonant waveguide, while fundamentally removing the loop-length matching constraint that has limited prior recirculating schemes. This architectural breakthrough simultaneously enables a much smaller device footprint and an extended low-V$\pi$ bandwidth, without relying on narrowband resonances. Building on this concept, we experimentally demonstrate both a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) and a cascaded PM, and verify their versatility in finite impulse response (FIR) filtering and optical frequency comb (OFC) generation. The recirculating MZM operates as a 4-tap rectangular-window FIR filter with 110 GHz bandwidth in a compact 2.889$\times$0.58 mm$^2$ footprint. The cascaded PM achieves a 3.40 GHz low-V$\pi$ bandwidth, a 110 GHz resonant EO bandwidth, and a V$\pi$L of 0.7 V$\cdot$cm, and generates 20 OFC lines under a 33 dBm microwave drive. These results demonstrate, for the first time, a practical and highly efficient non-resonant recirculating modulation platform, laying the groundwork for scalable high-order mode recirculating modulators (RMs) and opening new opportunities in optical communications, sensing, and microwave photonics.

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Feiyu Wang, Liheng Wang, Mingrui Yuan, Zhen Han, Binjie Wang, Yong Zheng, Pu Zhang, Yongheng Jiang, Huifu Xiao, Mei Xian Low, Aditya Dubey, Thach Giang Nguyen, Guanghui Ren, Arnan Mitchell, Yonghui Tian. 2025-12-23. High efficiency and compact lithium niobate non-resonant recirculating phase modulator and its applications. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.20090

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