Ring-Assisted Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Silicon Modulator for Enhanced Performance

Author

Gutierrez, A.M. ; Brimont, A. ; Rasigade, G. ; Ziebell, M. ; Marris-Morini, D. ; Fédéli, J. -M ; Vivien, L. ; Marti, J. ; Sanchis, P.

Author_Institution

Nanophotonics Technol. Center (NTC), Univ. Politec. Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Volume

30

Issue

1

fYear

2012

Firstpage

9

Lastpage

14

Abstract

A high-speed ring-assisted Mach-Zehnder interferometer (RAMZI) silicon modulator is reported and experimentally demonstrated. The RAMZI optical structure relaxes the optimum coupling condition of the ring without degrading the modulator performance, which therefore improves the modulator robustness against fabrication deviations and could eventually lead to an enhanced modulation bandwidth. Hence, our RAMZI silicon modulator, based on carrier depletion in a pipin active structure, exhibits a 3 dB electro-optical bandwidth of 19 GHz, enabling up to 20 Gbit/s data transmission over a RF/optical interaction length of only ~200 μm.

Keywords

electro-optical effects; light interferometers; optical modulation; silicon; RAMZI optical structure; bit rate 20 Gbit/s; data transmission; electrooptical bandwidth; enhanced performance; frequency 19 GHz; optimum coupling condition; ring assisted Mach Zehnder interferometer; silicon modulator; Couplings; Extinction ratio; Indexes; Optical device fabrication; Optical modulation; Silicon; Microring resonators; photonic integrated circuits; silicon photonics; waveguide modulators;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2011.2176314

Filename

6082366