| An electro-optic resonant modulator consists of a dielectric material that responds to an applied electric field by way of amplitude modulation, as an optical signal propagates through and resonates within. This work focuses on the analysis and fabrication of the resonator. The resonator is of a Fabry-Perot type, employing a titanium indiffused lithium niobate waveguide as the optical guide. The resonator is an integrated device and able to be fiber pigtailed, to be used as a remote device. A z-cut lithium niobate resonator with dielectric mirror coatings was fabricated with a finesse of 14, for the TM-like mode at an operating wavelength of 1.55 micrometers. The cleavage planes of lithium niobate are investigated and incorporated in the final design of the resonator. The cleaved edges eliminate the need for the edge polishing that is used for the mirrors of the Fabry-Perot resonant cavity. The desired cleaved edges require the use of a x-cut lithium niobate substrate, with differing orientations of the titanium indiffused waveguide for the ordinary and extraordinary modes. This dissertation presents a theoretical analysis of the electromagnetic wave in a medium with off-diagonal components in the permittivity tensor, as is necessary for the cleaved edge resonator geometry. A theoretical analysis of the electro-optic effect for the cleaved edge geometry is also presented. A cleaved edge titanium indiffused lithium niobate resonator was fabricated, and resonances were observed at 13.5 GHz and 14.3 GHz for the ordinary and extraordinary modes, respectively with 2 nm gold coated facets, at an operating wavelength of 1.3 micrometers. Given the useable cleavage planes of z-cut lithium niobate, an equilateral triangle resonator is proposed. The theoretical and experimental results contained in this dissertation validate the feasibility and viability of a Fabry-Perot resonator as a modulating medium. |
