Comparative analysis of lithium niobate and barium titanate material platforms for implementing electro-optically tunable general-purpose photonic processors

Abstract

The field of general-purpose photonic processors (GPPPs) has been gaining momentum as a promising area for reconfigurable integrated photonic hardware. Among various tuning mechanisms, the electro-optic tuning mechanism can enable the implementation of high-speed GPPPs with faster reconfiguration, larger bandwidth, and reduced dependence on high-performance blocks. Lithium niobate (LN) and barium titanate (BTO) are promising electro-optic platforms that enable electro-optically tunable GPPPs. However, the inherent anisotropy associated with the two materials and polarization domain formation in BTO makes the study and analysis of these effects on device performance essential, as GPPPs involve tunable devices in three different orientations, which must perform similarly. This article explores and comparatively analyzes the potential of using two material platforms to enable the implementation of high-speed GPPPs. Various applications implemented on LN and BTO GPPPs are also discussed and compared. Based on our results, a method to select the optimal device orientation for implementing a high-speed GPPP with all devices performing similarly in the two platforms has been proposed. The results indicate that both platforms have their own pros and cons, and the choice of platform depends on the application.