Title :
Slow-Light-Enhanced Silicon Optical Modulators Under Low-Drive-Voltage Operation
Author :
Brimont, Antoine ; Gutierrez, Ana M. ; Aamer, Mariam ; Thomson, David J. ; Gardes, Frederic Y. ; Fedeli, Jean-Marc ; Reed, Graham T. ; Marti, Javier ; Sanchis, Pablo
Author_Institution :
Nanophotonics Technol. Center, Univ. Politec. de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Abstract :
The integration of nanophotonics components with advanced complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) electronics requires drive voltages as low as 1 V for enabling next-generation CMOS electrophotonics transceivers. Slow-light propagation has been recently demonstrated as an effective mechanism to enhance the modulation efficiency in free-carrier-based electrooptical silicon modulators. Here, we exploit the use of slow light to reduce the driving voltage of carrier-depletion-based Mach-Zehnder modulators. The slow-light phase shifter consists of a p-n junction positioned in the middle of a corrugated waveguide. A modulation efficiency as high as VπLπ ~ 0.6 V·cm is achieved, thus allowing data transmission rates up to 10 Gb/s with a 1.5-Vpp drive voltage and an insertion loss of ~12 dB. The influence of the drive voltage on the modulation speed as well as the variation of the insertion losses with a group index is also analyzed and discussed.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; elemental semiconductors; integrated optics; nanophotonics; optical communication equipment; optical modulation; optical waveguides; silicon; slow light; CMOS electronics; Si; advanced complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor electronics; carrier-depletion-based Mach-Zehnder modulators; corrugated waveguide; data transmission rates; driving voltage; free-carrier-based electrooptical silicon modulators; group index; insertion losses; low-drive-voltage operation; modulation efficiency; modulation speed; nanophotonics components; next-generation CMOS electrophotonics transceivers; p-n junction; slow-light phase shifter; slow-light propagation; slow-light-enhanced silicon optical modulators; voltage 1.5 V; CMOS integrated circuits; Insertion loss; Optical modulation; Optical waveguides; Phase shifters; Silicon; Slow light; optical interconnects; photonic band-gap structures; silicon nanophotonics;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Journal, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/JPHOT.2012.2207884