Electrooptic sideband generation at 72 GHz

R. Kallenbach, B. Scheumann, C. Zimmermann, D. Meschede, and T. W. Hnsch

Citation: Applied Physics Letters 54, 1622 (1989); doi: 10.1063/1.101324
View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.101324
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Electro~optic

sideband generation at 72 GHz

R. Kallenbach, B. Scheu mann, C. Zimmermann, D. Meschede, and T. W. Hansch

Max-Planck-Institut fur Quantenoptik, D-8046 Garciling, Federal Republic of Germany

(Received 9 December 1988; accepted for publication 23 February 1989)

Sidebands are observed at 72 GHz off an optical carrier at 633 nm. The laser beam is phase
modulated in a LiNb01 crystal which is exposed to a mm-wave field inside a Fabry-Perot
resonator. Under optimum phase-matching conditions we obtain a modulation index of 5%
derived from 200 m W microwave power. Phase matching is obtained by guiding the light beam
on a zig-zag path under internal total reflections. For this unconventional type of phase
matching, the optical wave fronts travel at twice the speed of the modulating wave along the
resonator axis.

We describe a novel type of electro-optic light modulator which we have used to generate optical sidehands 72
GHz off the carrier frequency of a 633 nm He-Ne laser. This
modulation frequency is several times higher than previously demonstrated with cw electro-optic modulators. I An electro-optic crystal is placed as a resonant etalon in an open
microwave Fabry-Perot resonator (Fig. 1), and the laser
beam follows a zig-zag path inside the crystal under total
internal reflections so that phase matching is achieved and
transit time limitations are overcome. A rdated technique
has been used by Kaminov et al. 2 to mix the 0.96 THz hydrogen. cyanide laser with optical radi3.tion.
We believe that this modulator can operate at any microwave frequency from a few ten GHz up, limited only by
the availability of mm-wave sources. The applicability of
phase-modulated optical waves is hence extended significantly, for example, in high-resolution FM spectroscopy,3
for optical frequency synthesis;1 or also for optical communications.
Phase modulation of the HeNe laser is proportional to
the electro-optic coefficientS r33 = 3 X 10- 11 m/V of the thin
parallel-plate LiNbO, crystal with optical z axis parallel to
the polarizations of both optical and microwave radiation. A
Fabry-Perot cavity, which is formed by two 25-mm-diam
ccpper mirrors of 100 mm radius at a separation of
3ii. mm = 12.6 mm, serves to enhance the microwave field
strength. The resonator is driven by the 200 m W output of a
reflex klystron. A Q of about 10 000 is measured for the
empty cavity.
The thickness of the wafer is chosen as 1 microwavelength, d = Ammlnmnt = O.S mm, for an index of refraction
flmn' = 5.5. Insertion of the crystal reduces the Q factor to
values between 100 and 2000 depending on its position.
Therefore, the losses of the resonator are dominated by crystal absorption and almost all the power coupled into the
resonator is delivered to the crystaL For small losses per
single pass the microwave field amplitude ED is related to the
power P absorbed in a crystal volume V through the imaginary part of the complex dielectric function c mm :

P IV =

AnEo fm(Emm )E~,

Appl. Phys. Lett 5<1 (: 7), 24 April 1989

10-"

I
"electro optic

crystal

(l)

Outside the crystal, the field strength depends on the

position of the crystal, however. The ratios are h~1Ut / E,n = 1
for crystal surfaces positioned at anti nodes of the microwave
1622

field, EpuJEill = nmrn = [Re(Emm)] 1/2 at nodes. 6 The latter case corresponds to the maximum total energy stored in
the resonator and hence the maximum Q value. In our experiment the LiNb0 3 etdon is adjusted to this configuration
since it is favored by the weak coupling of a dipole antenna 7
that allows some mechanical tunability of the coupling
strength in our apparatus. Residual resonator reflection is
about 20%, so that most of the incident microwave power is,
in fact, used for the refractive index modulation.
The node location of the crystal surfaces furthermore
requires an optical path for which the projection of tile optical phase velocity on the resonator axis (Fig. 2),
c' = ccos ()/n oPt (n OP1 = 2,2),istwicethemicrowavephase
velocityemm = c/n mm as is explained in Fig. 3. The corresponding angle is = 38, wen beyond the critical angle (27
at 633 nm) for the LiNb0 3 , and the laser beam undergoes 30
reflections on passing the 20 mm crystal length.
After passing the laser beam through the LiNbO; etalon, it is analyzed by means of a monochromator with 10
GHz resolution. Symmetric sidebands are observed (Fig. 4)
in phase with the mm-wave radiation, which is chopped at
300 Hz. From the sidehand to carrier intensity ratio, S /
C = 2.5 X
we estimate a modulation index b = 5%,
where the phase-modulated sine wave is given by
eo"t = eo sin rult + {5 ( (3) sin !1t- 50]' and to is a time-dependent phase offset due to the total internal reflections.

FIG, L Electro-optic modulator.

0003-61351/89/171622-03$01.00

@ i 969 American Institute of Physics

1622

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'i

./td

2j.3

,
Jd
~(j

2j .2

2H

(,\

cos S/nopl

2j

'

~! ~~~~

Q!;ao

x C/l'lmm

~I

L.----<--------l.!-------,I

FIG. 2. Wave propagation in the LiNbO, crystal.

632.5

The He-Ne laser heam is focused into the modulator

crystal so that its beam waist has a spot size of 0.1 mm,
corresponding to a Rayleigh range of 100 mm. The laser
beam diameter remains thus well below AmnJ2 along the
entire beam path so that the phase modulation across the
beam is approximately uniform. The angular walk-off of the
sidebands remains below 10- 4 rad and is unimportant for
the same reasons.
For a theoretical estimateS of the modulation index 15,
we can assume an infinitely long crystal because the transverse field distribution of the microwave with spot size
100 = 6 mm, E(y) = (Eol[ii)exp - (ylw() 2, is concentrated in a volume small compared to the crystal length. The

632.8

633.1

Wavelength (nm l

FIG. 4. Spcctmm of the phase-modulated HcNe laser beam at 633 urn. The
central carrier is largely suppressed by lock-in detection.

accumulated phase modulation of a wave front is

n~Pt r3.\wO J

8(t)=tr .'

Sin

)"OPt

T,c

IV' .drEmm[r(r),r+t]
~
~

= 8(O)sin(flt).

(2)

Integration follows the optical path through the Gaussian

microwave field, which is passed in a time Til' = Wo cot e Ie'
and depends Gll the time r according to
Em",(r,T) = 1I.j4trEo{cos[HU+r)

---!(mrn

x]

-cos[flU+r) + Knm,xl}exp[ - (drilY]'

(3)
with Kmm = flmm !lIe.
For each round tripj across the crystal width d = C'Td
X [2jTd<r<2(j + l)d 1, the individual phase shift 8IPj is
the sum of the "zig" contribution with x = c' r ~ 2 U ~ 1) d
and the "zag" contribution with x = 2jd - C'T, yielding the
total phase modulation 8$ = };lj~j ( - 00 4< 00 ). Introthe
phase
mismatch
8fP = He I r),
ducing
r = nmm cos Inept> one finds individual contributions
8<P j = M)j + 0$1 i with
-" = trn 4 7:13WOE'01'2'e
Un
Aopt SUl
opt

8<1>/

=r:

8
_0

Tltl

FIG. 3. Phase-matching conditions. Across the width of the crystal the microwave amplitude is shown vs time. Positive lldds symholiz.e an increased
index of refraction for the laser light, and the zig-zag lines show the propagation of an optical wave front experiencing maximum retardation. (a) For
a crystal of width Am", and with antinodes at the surfaces, optimum phase
matching is achieved for c' ~= Cnnn or e ~~ 66'. With nodes at the surfaces no
net phase modulation is obtained for fI = 66'. Optimum phase matching is
achieved in this case for c' .~c 2eo'", or {J ,~, 38'.
1623

Appl. Phys. Lett., VoL 54, No.17, 24 April 19S9

{i(2 -l)TJdr cos(nt + 80

j

-l

T)

2(j -- t )rd

i~;d;)TddrCOS(nt+8n+7)}

(4)

for a constant field amplitude. Approximating the influence

of the Gaussian field distribution by weighting the jth term
with the factor exp[ - (2jrd/rW)2J/~1r, the total phase
modulation can be calculated and the optimum phase-match
angle is found for r = 2 or 80- = - n at eo = 38, For
sman relative deviations of the crystal thickness from perfect
resonance, Tl = t:..d Id, and for small-angle detunings,
t:..e = e - Go, we can express our final result in terms of the
effective number of round trips, N = T,j2rd = 9, arriving at
8(fJ,7J)

(8oo/3tr)exp{ - [Ntr(2 tan f3 t:..f3

Numerical

calculation

yields

+ 71) ]2}.

theoretical

(5)
value

B(e = 38) = 5%, which is in good agreement with our ex-

periment.
Kallenbach et al.

1623

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The sensitivity of the method with respect to angle mismatch and crystal thickness variations is also given by Eq.
(5), indicating a half-width of 1j = 3% for thickness variations and of 88 = 1 for angle dctunings. These estimates
show that the method is reasonably stable against technical
im perfections.
The modulation index can be increased by using a higher microwave field strength or a longer interaction time 7",.
Even a simple triple pass of the light beam would give an
immediate ninefold enhancement of the sideband intensity.
A modulation index of 10 or more may ultimately be possible.
We gratefully acknowledge lending of microwave
equipment by M. Munich of the Institute for Plasmaphysics
(lPP) at Garching, FRG. Crystals were polished by M. Oswald, also at the IPP. L. Eft} manufactured the resonator
mirrors.
0

1624

Appl. Phys.lett., Vol. 54, No. 17,24 April 1989

'1'. F. Gallagher, N. H. Tran, and J. P. Watjcn, AppJ. Opt. 25, 510 (1986).
cI. P. Kaminov, T. J. Bridges, and M. A. Pollack, App!. Phys. Lett. 16,416
(1970); reprinted in, I. P. Kaminov, An Introduction to Electrooptic Devices (Academic, New York, 1974).
-'G. C. Bjorklund, Opt. Lett. 5,15 (1980).
4K. M. Evenson, O. W. Day, J. S. Wells, and L O. Mullen. App!. Phys.
Lett. 211,133 (1972).
'The rf value for the electro-optic coefficient is used here. To our knowledge
il has not been measured for the very high frequencies employed in our
experiment. The index of refraction is nearly constant for frequencies
between 65 MHz and 7 THz. See Ref. I and L P. Kaminov and E. H.
Turner, Froc. IEEE 54,1374 (1966).
6A simple arugment explains this behavior: At an antinode the tangential
electric field is continuous and hence the field strength inside and outside.
At a node the tangential magnetic field is maximum and continuous; its
amplitude lS related to the electric .field by the index of refraction,
IHI = /liEI, from which the ratio of the electric field strengths inside and
outside follows.
7U. Harbarth, J. Kowalski, R. Neumann, S. Noehte, K. Scheffzek, and G.
zu Putlitz, J. Phys. E 20,409 (1987).
KA. Yariv and P. Yeh, Optical Waves in Crystals (Wiley, New York, 1984).

Kallenbach et al.

1624

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