Steven Richard Holm, Age 54430 29Th St, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

2004008, May 6, 2004

Oct 30, 2002

10/283947

Peter Livingston - Palos Verdes Estates CA, US
Steven Holm - Redondo Beach CA, US
Elizabeth Kunkee - Manhattan Beach CA, US

G02F001/01

359/279000

A quantum-confined Stark effect quantum-dot optical modulator includes an interferometer having a beam splitter, first and second parallel optical branches fed by the beam splitter and a beam combiner fed by the first and second parallel optical branches and a laser for feeding a laser beam to the beam splitter. First and second optical phase shifters are provided in respective ones of the first and second parallel optical branches. Each optical phase shifter includes an intrinsic semiconductor crystalline planar layer and p-type and n-type planar semiconductor layers on opposite faces of the intrinsic semiconductor crystalline planar layer, the intrinsic layer lying in a plane parallel to a direction of propagation of the laser beam in the respective optical branch. The intrinsic layer has plural layers of planar arrays of quantum dots therein. A reverse bias D.C. voltage source is connected across the p-type and n-type layers.