An optical modulator that includes a resonator near one arm of a
Mach-Zehnder interferometer and that increases the optical length of that
arm so as to introduce a phase-shift in an optical signal propagating in
that arm when compared to an optical signal propagating in the other arm
of the interferometer. The resonator also increases the electro-optic
interaction between an electrical signal (i.e., the source of information
in a modulated signal) and the optical devices (e.g., waveguides). A
modulator constructed in accordance with the present invention is thus
physically small than prior art modulators and requires a significantly
reduced drive voltage to impart information on an optical signal.