Optical Modulators

There are very different kinds of optical modulators:

• Acousto-optic modulators are based on the acousto-optic effect. They are used for switching or continuously adjusting the amplitude of a laser beam, for shifting its optical frequency, or its spatial direction.
• Electro-optic modulators exploit the electro-optic effect in a Pockels cell. They can be used for modifying the polarization, phase or power of a beam, or for pulse picking in the context of ultrashort pulse amplifiers.
• Electroabsorption modulators are intensity modulators, used e.g. for data transmitters in optical fiber communications.
• Interferometric modulators, e.g. Mach–Zehnder modulators, are often realized in photonic integrated circuits for optical data transmission.
• Fiber-optic modulators can exploit various physical principles. They can be true fiber devices, or contain fiber pig-tailed bulk components.
• Liquid crystal modulators are suitable for, e.g., optical displays and ultrafast pulse shapers. They are also available as spatial light modulators, i.e. with a spatially varying transmission, e.g. for displays.
• Chopper wheels can periodically switch the optical power of a light beam, as required for certain optical measurements (e.g. those using a lock-in amplifier). Of course, that kind of device cannot provide arbitrary modulation controlled with an electrical input signal.
• Micromechanical modulators (which are microelectromechanical systems = MEMS), e.g. silicon-based light valves and two-dimensional mirror arrays, are particularly useful for projection displays.

Bulk-optical modulators, e.g. of the electro-optic type, can be used with large beam areas, and handle correspondingly large optical powers. On the other hand, there are fiber-coupled modulators, often realized as a waveguide modulator with fiber pigtails, which can easily be integrated into fiber-optic systems.