Thin-film lithium tantalate for ultraviolet integrated electro-optic modulator
Abstract
The realization of integrated, high-speed ultraviolet modulation is pivotal for the advancement of quantum information processing, portable atomic clocks, and secure solar-blind communications. While mature photonic platforms have enabled sophisticated system-level integration across the visible and infrared spectral ranges, high-speed active modulation in the ultraviolet remains largely dependent on conventional bulk-crystal technologies. Consequently, a scalable integrated solution that simultaneously combines low insertion loss and extreme compactness with high modulation efficiency has remained challenging. Here, we report an integrated UV electro-optic modulator on a thin-film lithium tantalate platform. The device has a compact lumped-electrode of 200 μ m, exhibiting a measured 3 dB electrical-to-optical-to-electrical bandwidth above 40 GHz, a high modulation efficiency V π L of 85 mV ⋅ cm, and a measured electrical-to-electrical bandwidth beyond 67 GHz. This work establishes thin-film lithium tantalate as a disruptive platform for wafer-scale compatible active UV photonics, enabling the next generation of scalable quantum and communication systems.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{lin2026thinfilm,
title = {{Thin-film lithium tantalate for ultraviolet integrated electro-optic modulator}},
author = {Chupao Lin and Patrick Nenezic and Arno Moerman and Simone Cammarata and Simone Atzeni and Konstantinos Akritidis and Tom Vanackere and Margot Niels and He Li and Valeria Bonito Oliva and Xin Yin and Maximilien Billet and Bart Kuyken},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78862-6},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78862-6},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Thin-film lithium tantalate for ultraviolet integrated electro-optic modulator
AU - Chupao Lin
AU - Patrick Nenezic
AU - Arno Moerman
AU - Simone Cammarata
AU - Simone Atzeni
AU - Konstantinos Akritidis
AU - Tom Vanackere
AU - Margot Niels
AU - He Li
AU - Valeria Bonito Oliva
AU - Xin Yin
AU - Maximilien Billet
AU - Bart Kuyken
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-78862-6
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78862-6
AB - The realization of integrated, high-speed ultraviolet modulation is pivotal for the advancement of quantum information processing, portable atomic clocks, and secure solar-blind communications. While mature photonic platforms have enabled sophisticated system-level integration across the visible and infrared spectral ranges, high-speed active modulation in the ultraviolet remains largely dependent on conventional bulk-crystal technologies. Consequently, a scalable integrated solution that simultaneously combines low insertion loss and extreme compactness with high modulation efficiency has remained challenging. Here, we report an integrated UV electro-optic modulator on a thin-film lithium tantalate platform. The device has a compact lumped-electrode of 200 μ m, exhibiting a measured 3 dB electrical-to-optical-to-electrical bandwidth above 40 GHz, a high modulation efficiency V π L of 85 mV ⋅ cm, and a measured electrical-to-electrical bandwidth beyond 67 GHz. This work establishes thin-film lithium tantalate as a disruptive platform for wafer-scale compatible active UV photonics, enabling the next generation of scalable quantum and communication systems.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -