All-fiber bidirectional optical modulator derives from the microfiber coated with ITO electrode

A cheap, compact, and simply prepared all-fiber bidirectional optical modulator based on the Pockels effect of water and the band population effect was first, to the best of our knowledge, proposed and demonstrated. The transparent conductive oxide indium-tin-oxide (ITO) was coated on the surface of a nonadiabatic microfiber and first used as a modulating electrode on the microfiber. The device was realized by just submerging the microfiber in water. With supplying an electric field perpendicular to the interface between the microfiber and water, the refractive index was modulated in the electric double layer near the tapered region of the microfiber, under the Pockels effect of water. Subsequently, the interference spectrum was modulated. Meanwhile, the intensity of the light was modulated due to the band population effect in the space-charge layer. In this Letter, the proposed all-fiber optical modulator can realize simultaneous bidirectional modulation of the phase and intensity of output light. Experimentally, the maximum phase shift and the extinction ratio were 4.38 nm and 4.87 dB at 1550 nm, respectively. Significantly, the work used the Pockels effect of water and the band population effect to realize an all-fiber optical modulator, showing great potential in the optical phase modulators, optical switches, and electric field sensors.