Integrated photonics on thin-film lithium niobate

Di Zhu; Linbo Shao; Mengjie Yu; Rebecca Cheng; Boris Desiatov; C. J. Xin; Yaowen Hu; Jeffrey Holzgrafe; Soumya Ghosh; Amirhassan Shams-Ansari; Eric Puma; Neil Sinclair; Neil Sinclair; Christian Reimer; Mian Zhang; Marko Lončar; Marko Lončar

doi:10.1364/AOP.411024

Advances in Optics and Photonics
Vol. 13,
Issue 2,
pp. 242-352
(2021)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AOP.411024

Integrated photonics on thin-film lithium niobate

Di Zhu, Linbo Shao, Mengjie Yu, Rebecca Cheng, Boris Desiatov, C. J. Xin, Yaowen Hu, Jeffrey Holzgrafe, Soumya Ghosh, Amirhassan Shams-Ansari, Eric Puma, Neil Sinclair, Christian Reimer, Mian Zhang, and Marko Lončar

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Di Zhu, Linbo Shao, Mengjie Yu, Rebecca Cheng, Boris Desiatov, C. J. Xin, Yaowen Hu, Jeffrey Holzgrafe, Soumya Ghosh, Amirhassan Shams-Ansari, Eric Puma, Neil Sinclair, Christian Reimer, Mian Zhang, and Marko Lončar, "Integrated photonics on thin-film lithium niobate," Adv. Opt. Photon. 13, 242-352 (2021)

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- Integrated Photonics
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About this Article
History
- Original Manuscript: October 5, 2020
- Revised Manuscript: February 16, 2021
- Manuscript Accepted: February 22, 2021
- Published: May 3, 2021

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Abstract

Lithium niobate (LN), an outstanding and versatile material, has influenced our daily life for decades—from enabling high-speed optical communications that form the backbone of the Internet to realizing radio-frequency filtering used in our cell phones. This half-century-old material is currently embracing a revolution in thin-film LN integrated photonics. The successes of manufacturing wafer-scale, high-quality thin films of LN-on-insulator (LNOI) and breakthroughs in nanofabrication techniques have made high-performance integrated nanophotonic components possible. With rapid development in the past few years, some of these thin-film LN devices, such as optical modulators and nonlinear wavelength converters, have already outperformed their legacy counterparts realized in bulk LN crystals. Furthermore, the nanophotonic integration has enabled ultra-low-loss resonators in LN, which has unlocked many novel applications such as optical frequency combs and quantum transducers. In this review, we cover—from basic principles to the state of the art—the diverse aspects of integrated thin-film LN photonics, including the materials, basic passive components, and various active devices based on electro-optics, all-optical nonlinearities, and acousto-optics. We also identify challenges that this platform is currently facing and point out future opportunities. The field of integrated LNOI photonics is advancing rapidly and poised to make critical impacts on a broad range of applications in communication, signal processing, and quantum information.

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Material	Symmetry Group	Optical Refractive Index ^b	RF Dielectric Constant	Second-Order Nonlinear Coefficient (pm/V)	Nonlinear Refractive Index, $n_{2}$ (m²/W	EO Coefficient (pm/V)	Photoelastic Coefficients	Piezoelectric Strain Coefficient (pC/N)
${L i N b O}_{3}$	$3 m$	2.21 ( $o$ ) 2.14 ( $e$ )	$ε_{11, 22} = 44$ $ε_{33} = 27.9$ (clamped, high-frequency response)	$d_{31} = - 4.3$ $d_{33} = - 27.0$ $d_{22} = 2.10$ (at 1064 nm)	$1.8 \times 10^{- 19}$ (at 1550 nm)	$r_{13} = 9.6$ $r_{22} = 6.8$ $r_{33} = 30.9$ $r_{51} = 32.6$	$p_{11} = - 0.026$ $p_{12} = 0.09$ $p_{13} = 0.133$ $p_{14} = - 0.075$ $p_{31} = 0.179$ $p_{33} = 0.071$ $p_{41} = - 0.151$ $p_{44} = 0.146$	$d_{31} = - 1.0$ $d_{22} = 21$ $d_{33} = 16$ $d_{15} = 74$
${L i T a O}_{3}$	$3 m$	2.119 ( $o$ ) 2.123 ( $e$ )	$ε_{11, 22} = 38.3$ $ε_{33} = 46.2$	$d_{31} = 0.85$ $d_{33} = 13.8$ (at 1064 nm)	$1.46 \times 10^{- 19}$ (at 800 nm)	$r_{13} = 8.4$ $r_{22} = - 0.2$ $r_{33} = 30.5$ $r_{51} = 20$	$p_{11} = - 0.081$ $p_{12} = 0.081$ $p_{13} = 0.093$ $p_{14} = - 0.026$ $p_{31} = 0.089$ $p_{33} = - 0.044$ $p_{41} = - 0.085$ $p_{44} = 0.028$	$d_{31} = - 3.0$ $d_{22} = 9.0$ $d_{33} = 9.0$ $d_{15} = 26$
Si	$m 3 m$	3.48	11.7	0	$5 \times 10^{- 18}$ (at 1550 nm)	0	$p_{11} = - 0.094$ $p_{12} = 0.017$ $p_{44} = 0.051$	0
${S i O}_{2}$	Amorphous	1.44	3.9	0	$3 \times 10^{- 20}$ (at 1550 nm)	0	$p_{11} = 0.121$ $p_{12} = 0.270$	0
α-Quartz	32	1.53 ( $o$ ) 1.54 ( $e$ )	3.8	$d_{11} = 0.584$ (at 1318 nm)	$2.6 \times 10^{- 20}$ (at 1318 nm)	$r_{41} = 0.2$ $r_{62} = 0.93$	$p_{11} = 0.16$ $p_{12} = 0.27$ $p_{13} = 0.27$ $p_{14} = - 0.03$ $p_{31} = 0.29$ $p_{33} = 0.10$ $p_{41} = - 0.047$ $p_{44} = - 0.079$	$d_{11} = 2.3$ $d_{14} = - 0.67$
${S i}_{3} N_{4}$	Amorphous	2.00	7.5	0	$2.5 \times 10^{- 19}$ (at 1550 nm)	0	$p_{12} = 0.047$	0
AlN	$6 m m$	2.12 ( $o$ ) 2.16 ( $e$ )	8.6	$d_{31} = 1.6$ $d_{33} = 4.7$ (at 1550nm)	$2.3 \times 10^{- 19}$ (at 1550 nm)	$r_{13} = 0.67$ $r_{33} = - 0.59$ (sputtered thin film)	$p_{11} = - 0.1$ $p_{12} = - 0.027$ $p_{13} = - 0.019$ $p_{33} = - 0.107$ $p_{44} = - 0.032$ $p_{66} = - 0.037$	$d_{31} = - 2.0$ $d_{33} = 5.0$ $d_{15} = 4.0$
ZnO	$6 m m$	1.93 ( $o$ ) 1.94 ( $e$ )	10.4	$d_{33} = 1.23$ (at 1064 nm)	$6.88 \times 10^{- 15}$ (ZnO:Ni thin film, at 1064 nm)	$r_{33} = 0.5$ (ZnO:Mn thin film) $r_{33} = 2.6$ (single crystal)	$p_{11} = 0.222$ $p_{12} = 0.099$ $p_{13} = - 0.111$ $p_{31} = 0.0888$ $p_{33} = - 0.0235$ $p_{44} = 0.0585$	$d_{31} = - 5.1$ $d_{33} = 12.4$ $d_{15} = - 8.3$
GaAs	$\bar{4} 3 m$	3.38	12.9	$d_{36} = 170$ (at 1064 nm)	$2.6 \times 10^{- 17}$	$r_{41} = 1.43$ (at 1550 nm)	$p_{11} = - 0.165$ $p_{12} = - 0.140$ $p_{44} = - 0.072$	$d_{14} = 2.6$
Diamond	$m 3 m$	2.39	5.7	0	$4 \times 10^{- 20}$ (at 800 nm)	0	$p_{11} = 0.125$ $p_{12} = - 0.325$ $p_{44} = 0.11$	0

Cavity Type	Fabrication Method	$Q$ -factor ( $10^{6}$ ) ^a	Year	Ref.
Microdisk	Dry etched	1.70	2017	[158]
Microdisk	Femtosecond laser + FIB	9.61	2019	[150]
Microdisk	CMP	14.6	2018	[152]
PPLN microdisk	Dry etching,	8.0	2020	[161]
	piezo-force-microscopy poling
Microring	Rib-loaded	0.13	2015	[102]
Microring	Dry etch	10	2017	[11]
Microring at visible	Dry etch	11	2019	[15]
wavelength
Microring	BIC	0.577	2019	[106]
Microring	CMP	11.4	2018	[12]
PPLN ring	Dry etched, Z-cut poling	1.8	2020	[167]
PPLN racetrack	Dry etched, X-cut poling	0.37	2019	[30]
Ring-shaped WGR	Dry etch followed by CMP	3.0	2017	[94]
PPLN ring-shaped WGR	Dry etch followed by CMP,	1.3	2018	[168]
	Z-cut poling
Photonic crystal	Dry etch	0.109	2017	[141]
Piezo-optomechanical crystal	Dry etch	0.47	2020	[177]

Modulator Type ^a	Platform/ Method	$V_{π} \cdot L$ (V-cm)	$V_{π}$ (V)	L (mm)	3 dB EO BW (GHz)	ER (dB)	Propagation Loss (dB/cm)	Year	Ref.
MZM	Monolithic	2.2	1.5	15	20	–	0.5	2017	[226]
MZM	Monolithic	2.2/2.3/2.8	4.4/2.3/1.4	5/10/20	100/80/45	30	0.3	2018	[21]
MZM	Monolithic	3.12	2.6	12	56	–	–	2019	[223]
MZM ^b	Monolithic	2.7	1.35	20	175 ^c	20	$< 0.5$	2020	[203]
MZM ^d	Monolithic	1.8	9	2	15	10	3	2018	[85]
PM	Monolithic	4.7	4.7	10	40	–	1	2016	[20]
PM	Monolithic	1.748	1.9	9.2	47 ^e	–	7	2018	[24]
PM	Monolithic	3.5	1.75	20	$> 45$	–	0.5	2019	[193]
IQ modulator	Monolithic	2.47/2.325	1.9 / 3.1	13 / 7.5	48 / 67	25	0.15	2020	[16]
MZM	Etched LN on SOI	2.55/2.22	5.1 / 7.4	5 / 3	70	40	0.98	2019	[22]
MZM	$T a_{2} O_{5}$ rib loading	4	6.8	6	–	20	5	2013	[103]
MZM	Chalcogenide rib loading	3.8	6.3	6	1	15	1.2	2015	[102]
MZM	$S i N_{x}$ rib loading	3	2.5	12	8	13.8	7	2016	[115]
MZM	$S i N_{x}$ rib loading	3.1	3.88	8	33	18	–	2016	[25]
MZM	$S i N_{x}$ rib loading	1.925	0.875	24	–	30	$< 2.25$	2020	[201]
MZM	LN on $S i N_{x}$	6.67	3.34	5	30.55	$> 20$	1.6 ^f	2020	[200]
MZM	LN on SOI	6.7	13.4	5	$> 106$ ^g	30	0.6	2018	[23]
MIM	Etched LN on SOI	1.2	12	1	17.5	30	0.3 ^h	2019	[197]
MIM	Monolithic	1.4/1.52	14 / 7.6	1 / 2	12	27.6/ 20	4.6	2019	[196]

Resonator Type	Platform/Method	Voltage Tuning Rate (pm/V)	$Q$ -Factor (Loaded)	Crystal Cut	Ref.	Notes
Ring	Monolithic	1.05	$4 \times 10^{3}$	Z	[55]
Ring	LN on SOI	1.7	$1.7 \times 10^{4}$	Z	[111]
Ring	$T a_{2} O_{5}$ rib loading	4.5	$7.4 \times 10^{4}$	X	[103]
Ring	LN on SOI	12.5	$1.1 \times 10^{4}$	Z	[112]	Doped Si used as conductive electrode
Ring	LN on SOI	3.3	$1.4 \times 10^{4}$	X	[113]
Ring	Chalcogenide rib loading	3.2	$1.2 \times 10^{5}$	Y	[102]
Ring	Monolithic	2.15	$2.8 \times 10^{3}$	Z	[166]
Photonic crystal cavity	Hybrid Si on bulk LN	$\sim 2$	$1.2 \times 10^{5}$	X	[114]	Nonlinear phase shift attributed to the field effect in Si.
Racetrack	Monolithic	7	$5 \times 10^{4}$	X	[85]
Ring	Monolithic	4	$2 \times 10^{6}$	X	[173]	Single ring properties in a dual ring device
Ring	$S i N_{x}$ rib loading	1.8	$\sim 9 \times 10^{4}$	X	[98]
Photonic crystal cavity	Monolithic	16	$1.34 \times 10^{5}$	X	[182]

Device Type	Crystal Cut	Phase Matching	Normalized Conversion Efficiency ( $% / W \cdot {c m}^{2}$ )	Year	Ref.
SiNx loaded waveguide	X	Type-0 QPM	160	2016	[17]
SiNx loaded waveguide	X	Type-0 QPM	1,160	2019	[320]
Etched waveguide	X	Metasurface assisted	0.4	2017	[318]
Etched waveguide	Z	Type-I intermodal	22.2	2018	[297]
Etched waveguide	X	Type-0 intermodal	41	2017	[117]
Etched waveguide	X	Type-0 (periodically grooved)	6.8	2017	[117]
Etched waveguide	X	Type-0 QPM	2,200	2019	[32]
Etched waveguide	X	Type-0 QPM	2,600	2018	[29]
Etched waveguide	X	Type-0 QPM	4,600	2019	[308]

Device Type	LN Crystal Cut	Phase Matching	Conversion Efficiency (%/W)	Year	Ref.
Microdisk	Z	Intermodal	0.28	2017	[149]
Microdisk	Z	Intermodal	10.9	2014	[140]
Microdisk	X	Cyclic	0.36	2017	[158]
Microdisk	X	Cyclic	2.3	2018	[152]
Microdisk	X	Cyclic	110.6	2016	[146]
Microdisk	X	Cyclic	990	2019	[150]
Ring-shaped WGM resonator	Z	Type-0 QPM	0.9	2018	[168]
Microdisk	Z	Type-0 QPM	1.44	2020	[161]
Microdisk	Z	Type -0 QPM	51	2020	[162]
Racetrack	X	Type-0 QPM	230,000	2019	[30]
Microring	Z	Type-I QPM	250,000	2019	[31]
Microdisk	Z	–	1.35	2015	[157]
Microring	Z	Type-0 QPM	5,000,000	2020	[167]
Photonic crystal L3 cavity	X	–	0.012	2016	[178]
1D photonic crystal	X	–	0.0004	2018	[179]
2D photonic crystal	X	–	0.078	2019	[142]

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