High-power, integrated photonic, electric-field sensor

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer designed as an electric field transducer operates without metal electrodes by incorporating a novel substrate configuration. The lithium niobate device uses reverse poling of one of the interferometer arms, which provides opposing optical phase changes in the two interferometer arms when placed in an electric field. The fabricated devices exhibit a measured minimum detectable field of 0.22 V/m(root)Hz and frequency response greater than 6 GHz. Theoretical calculations show that fields in excess of 330 kV/m can be detected before appreciable distortion occurs.