Patent ID: 6845183

Claim:
A waveguide interferometric electro-optic modulator comprising: a) first and second waveguides formed in an electro-optic substrate; and, b) a plurality of electrodes including: an RF electrode having a width W RF ; and a slotted ground electrode including first and second elongate electrically-connected conductive portions having widths W F and W S , respectively defining a slot therebetween; wherein the first elongate conductive portion is disposed between the RF electrode and the second elongate conductive portion, wherein W F is at least 20% greater than W RF , wherein the RF electrode is positioned over the electro-optic substrate between the first and the second waveguides or at least partially over one of the first and second waveguides; and wherein the slotted ground electrode has an overall width substantially greater than the width of the RE electrode and dimensioned to reduce a piezoelectric voltage caused by thermal stress, thereby reducing a net phase shift and a resulting bias point sensitivity of the modulator to ambient temperature.