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Published
, Published online: 15 August 2025
, doi: 10.37188/lam.2025.047
The continuous growth in data centre traffic, especially from artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads, is driving increased single carrier line rates. High-bandwidth electro-optic modulators are essential for supporting 400 Gbit/s per lane transmission. While recent advancements have demonstrated bandwidths greater than 110 GHz at the die level, this throughput is insufficient for current and future applications like data centre optical interconnects. This paper presents a photonic platform based on 4-inch thin-film lithium niobate wafers with a quartz substrate, offering high yield, low loss and high bandwidth. This platform achieves waveguide propagation loss of < 0.4 dB/cm. The thin-film lithium niobate modulators fabricated on this platform can attain a bandwidth exceeding 110 GHz and possess a half-wave voltage (Vπ) lower than 3 V, with the modulator yield reaching 50%. Additionally, by employing deep-ultraviolet lithography and a metal lift-off process, the platform can be extended to larger wafer sizes (e.g., 6 or 8 inches). This significant increase in wafer-level throughput for 110 GHz electro-optic modulators can greatly enhance data centre optical interconnect capabilities.
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