Spectrally Broadband Electro-Optic Modulation with Nanoelectromechanical String Resonators

Abstract: In this paper, we present an electro-optical modulator made of two parallel nanoelectromechanical silicon nitride string resonators. These strings are covered with electrically connected gold electrodes and actuated either by Lorentz or electrostatic forces. The in-plane string vibrations modulate thewidth of the gap between the strings. The gold electrodes on both sides of the gap act as a mobile mirror that modulate the laser light that is focused in the middle of this gap. These electro-optical modulators can achieve an optical modulation depth of almost 100% for a driving voltage lower than 1 mV at a frequency of 314 kHz. The frequency range is determined by the string resonance frequency, which can take values of the order of a few hundred kilohertz to several megahertz. The strings are driven in the strongly nonlinear regime, which allows a frequency tuning of several kilohertz without significant effect on the optical modulation depth.