RAPID DIRECT FABRICATION OF ACTIVE ELECTROOPTIC MODULATORS IN GAAS

We have developed several direct-write laser processing techniques to masklessly fabricate prototypes of waveguiding devices in GaAs / AlGaAs substrates. This flexible technology allows the rapid, successive fabrication and testing of devices such as modulators. Previously, we had reported use of this technology to fabricate low-loss single-mode passive waveguiding structures and devices. In this paper, we report the fabrication of active electro-optic modulators. These devices include an electro-optic polarization modulator, an integrated amplitude modulator consisting of a polarization modulator and an on-chip polarizer, and an integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer.