Dual-drive push-pull optical modulator with electrical common-mode suppression

A dual-drive push-pull Mach-Zehnder optical modulator that accepts a differential input signal resulting from a first electrical drive signal and a second electrical drive signal for modulating an optical signal, the optical modulator comprising:

• a first waveguide arm;
• a second waveguide arm;
• a splitter for splitting the optical signal into a first optical signal portion and a second optical signal portion for propagating the first optical signal portion through the first waveguide arm and propagating the second optical signal portion through the second waveguide arm;
• at least a first phase shifter comprising a first set of diodes having a first connection configuration, and at least a second phase shifter comprising a second set of diodes having a second connection configuration, wherein the first phase shifter and the second phase shifter are inter-connected to one another for the modulating the optical signal;
• and
• wherein the first waveguide arm and the second waveguide arm have a particular configuration through the optical modulator, and the first electrical drive signal is applied to the first waveguide arm in the first phase shifter, and the second electrical drive signal is applied to the second waveguide arm in the first phase shifter, and the first electrical drive signal is applied to the first waveguide arm in the second phase shifter and the second electrical drive signal is applied to the second waveguide arm in the second phase shifter for modulating the optical signal and producing a modulated optical output signal with at least one suppressed common-mode signal component.