An electro‐optic modulator using LiTaO3is described which yields 34% of the carrier intensity in each of the first‐order sidebands with rf phase modulation frequenciesfm∼1.0 GHz and ≲1.0 W input power. The modulator makes use of a lumped resonator withQ∼200 to obtain efficient production of the sidebands. It is shown that the device can be scaled for operation at ∼2 GHz. Applications of this modulator include optical pumping of the lighter alkali atoms,FMsideband spectroscopy, and laser phase/frequency stabilization using rf modulation techniques.