Dual Polarization Simultaneous Optical Intensity Modulation in Single Birefringent LiNbO3 Mach–Zehnder Optical Modulator

Abstract

A new method of simultaneous modulation of dual-polarization intensity based on a single LiNbO3 Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM) is proposed. Using the birefringence of lithium niobate, the bipolar optical intensity can be modulated independently with the proposed modulation condition. In this paper, the optimized modulation conditions and the performance of the proposed method are investigated through simulations and experiments.