Electrooptic junction modulators

The use of
p-n
junctions,
p-i-n
junctions, metal semiconductor junctions, and heterojunctions as phase modulators is considered. The allowed modes of propagation through such junctions formed in both isotropic and uniaxial crystals are derived. The dependence of the propagation constant on the electric field is explicitly derived to yield the phase modulation properties of each structure, and the various structures are compared as high-frequency modulators. Heterojunction and
p-i-n
junction modulators are found to be superior to
p-n
junction modulators. Metal semiconductor junctions are found to be too lossy in the visible, but become attractive in the infrared.