Electro-optic Michelson Gires Tournois modulator for optical information processing and optical fiber communications

We propose and demonstrate an electro-optic modulator based on a Michelson interferometer with a Gires-Tournois etalon (GTE, or asymmetric Fabry-Perot etalon) in one of the two arms. The insertion of a GTE significantly reduces the required interaction length or the operation voltage. Our experimental and theoretical results agree well. An extension of our setup to a waveguide configuration can lead to practical modulators and switches with greater compactness and reduced operation voltage for optical fiber communications.