An optically scanning electromagnetic field probe system consisting of an electro-optic or magneto-optic crystal and a galvano scanner is proposed for high-speed electromagnetic field distribution measurements. We used this technique to measure electromagnetic field distributions near printed circuit boards or ICs to address electromagnetic compatibility problems or in designing electronic devices. With our scanning system, we can measure the electric field intensities of about 40,000 points with an area of 4040 mm in about 3 minutes (4 ms per point) up to 2.7 GHz. We measured the electric near-field distribution above a five-split transmission line using a cadmium telluride (CdTe) electro-optic crystal. The measurement results showed that the spatial resolution of the system was less than 400 µm in the case of a common current with a crystal thickness of 1 mm. The electric near-field distribution above a microstrip line filter was measured using LiNbO3 electro-optic crystal. Changes in the distribution according to the frequency were observed. The experimental results obtained using this system were compared with simulation results obtained using a finite-difference time-domain method. The overall results indicated that the measurement system is capable of accurately measuring electric near-fields. We also discuss the invasiveness of the measurement system, due to the electro-optic crystals, in terms of both the experimental and simulated results.

A magnetic field probe consisting of a LiNbO3 optical waveguide modulator and a loop antenna element was developed to enable accurate measurement of magnetic near-fields in the gigahertz range. The invasiveness of the probe was assessed by using it to measure the magnetic field distribution above a patch antenna operating at 2.49 GHz. The measurements were compared with those obtained using a shielded loop probe. The experimental results obtained using the probe were also compared with simulation results obtained using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The overall results indicated that the optical waveguide probe was capable of accurately measuring magnetic near-fields with low disturbance of the measured fields.

For next generation planar lightwave circuit (PLC) devices, high function and high-density integration are required as well as downsizing and cost reduction. To realize these needs, high refractive index difference between a core and a clad $(Delta)$ is required. To use PLC for practical applications, silica-based PLC is one of the most attractive candidate. However, degradation of the optical properties and productivity occur when $Delta$ of the core becomes high. Thus, $Delta$ of most of the conventional PLC with GeO$_2$-SiO$_2$ core is designed less than 2.5%. In this paper, we report a silica-based ultra-high $Delta $ PLC with ZrO$_2$-SiO$_2$ core. 5.5%-$Delta$ ZrO$_2$-SiO$_2$ PLC has been realized with low propagation loss and basic characteristics has been confirmed. Potential of chip size reduction of the ZrO$_2$-SiO$_2$ PLC is shown.