Broadband integrated optical modulators: achievements and prospects

Broadband integrated optical modulators are key elements of modern optical information systems. The three main technological material platforms for their manufacture are considered: lithium niobate, III–V semiconductors, and silicon. Progress achieved in the development of integrated optical modulators is analyzed, and the main parameters of modulators obtained for various materials are compared with requirements for practical applications. Directions in the further development of the technology of modulators related to new problems in optical information systems are discussed.