Studies of thermal drift as a source of output instabilities in Ti:LiNbO3 optical modulators

The thermal drifts of z‐cut Ti:LiNbO3 optical modulators are investigated. The behaviors of the drifts are influenced by the optical phase retardations of the modulators which are introduced during the modulator fabrication rather than the packaging process. It is also found that the time‐dependent drift occurs which becomes the dominant process at high temperatures.