Photonic links have been proposed to transport radio frequency (RF) signals over optical fiber. External optical modulation is commonly used in high performance RF-photonic links. The practical use of optical fiber to transport RF signals is still limited due to high RF signal loss. In order to reduce the RF signal loss, highly efficient modulators are needed. For many applications, modulators with broad bandwidths are required. However, there are applications that require only a narrow bandwidth. For these narrow-band applications, the modulation efficiency can be improved through the resonant enhancement technique at the expense of reduced bandwidth. The aim of this thesis is to investigate highly efficient Mach-Zehnder optical modulators (MZMs) on Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) with resonant enhancement techniques for narrow-band RF-photonic applications. This work focuses in particular on analyzing the factors that affect the modulation efficiency through resonant enhancement so that the modulator electrode structure can be optimized for maximum modulation efficiency. A parameter study of the effects of the electrode characteristics on the modulation efficiency of resonantly enhanced modulators (RE-MZM) is provided. From this study, optimum design objectives are identified. Numerical optimization is employed to explore the design trade-offs so that optimal configurations can be found. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to assess the performance of optimal RE-MZMs with respect to the variations of fabrication conditions. The results of these investigations indicate that the RE-MZM with a large electrode gap is the optimal design since it provides high modulation efficiency although the inherent switching voltage is high, and is the most tolerant to the fabrication fluctuations. A highly efficient RE-MZM on X-cut LiNbO3 is practically demonstrated with the resonant enhancement factor of 5 dB when comparing to the unenhanced modulator with the same electrode structure and effective switching voltage of 2 V at 1.8 GHz. The performance of the RF-photonic link using the fabr icated RE-MZM is evaluated. Optimization of RE-MZMs for operating at millimeter-wave frequencies is also reported. Factors that limit the modulation efficiency of an RE-MZM at millimeter-wave frequencies are identified. Novel resonant structures that can overcome these limitations are proposed. Preliminary designs indicate that greatly improved modulation efficiency could be expected.

This paper presents a brief study of the two most commonly used topologies - segmented and traveling-wave - for realizing monolithically integrated electro-optical transmitters consisting of Si-photonics Mach-Zehnder modulators and their electrical drivers. To this end, two new transmitters employing high swing breakdown voltage doubler drivers were designed in the aforementioned topologies and compared with regard to their extinction ratio and DC power consumption at the data rate of 30 Gb/s. It is shown that for the targeted data rate and extinction ratio, a considerably lower power consumption can be achieved with the traveling-wave topology than with its segmented counterpart. The transmitters were realized in a 250 nm SiGe BiCMOS electronic-photonic integrated technology.