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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.16577 |
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Table of Contents:
- Active photonic integrated circuits (PICs) in the visible spectrum are essential for on-chip applications, requiring low-loss waveguides with broad transparency and efficient, low-power phase modulation. Here, we demonstrate a compact, ultra-low-power phase modulator based on a silicon nitride (Si$_3$N$_4$) waveguide integrated with thin-film lead zirconate titanate (PZT) that actuates a bridge-type MEMS. The suspended actuator exploits PZT's strong piezoelectric effect to induce mechanically driven phase shifts, enabling efficient modulation in a Mach--Zehnder interferometer. For 3~mm and 5~mm modulators, phase shifts of $1.45π$ and $2.5π$ are achieved at 10~V, corresponding to a scalability metric ($V_π\cdot L$) of 2.25~V$\cdot$cm at 635~nm. This represents an order-of-magnitude improvement in scalability over stress-optic PZT modulators. The devices also exhibit ultralow power consumption ($\sim 12\,\mathrm{nW}$), $\sim 5\,\mathrm{ms}$ rise time, and optical loss $< 0.75\,\mathrm{dB/cm}$. Furthermore, we demonstrate on-chip beam shaping.