A Silicon-Polymer Hybrid Modulator—Design, Simulation and Proof of Principle

Author

Himmelhuber, Roland ; Herrera, Oscar D. ; Voorakaranam, R. ; Li Li ; Jones, Aaron M. ; Norwood, Robert A. ; Luo, JianChao ; Jen, Alex K.-Y ; Peyghambarian, N.

Author_Institution

Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

Volume

31

Issue

24

fYear

2013

fDate

Dec.15, 2013

Firstpage

4067

Lastpage

4072

Abstract

Optimal dimensions are found for the silicon waveguide in an electro-optic (EO) polymer cladding-based silicon waveguide modulator. The confinement factor as well as the effective index of the mode are taken into account. The influence of the coplanar electrode spacing and electrode height on performance are examined and a figure of merit formula for choosing the optimal device geometry is shown. The design space for both 1550 nm and 1310 nm wavelengths is explored. With the optimal 275 nm waveguide width and 4 μm electrode spacing, a Vπ of a few volts can be achieved even with moderate r33 EO polymers. Experimental results on a fabricated modulator are shown and compared with the predicted performance.

Keywords

electro-optical modulation; elemental semiconductors; optical design techniques; optical fabrication; optical polymers; optical waveguides; organic-inorganic hybrid materials; silicon; Si; confinement factor; coplanar electrode spacing; design space; electro-optic polymer cladding-based silicon waveguide modulator; electrode height; optimal device geometry; silicon-polymer hybrid modulator; waveguide width; wavelength 1310 nm; wavelength 1550 nm; Electrodes; Electrooptic modulators; Electrooptical waveguides; Polymers; Silicon; Electro-optic modulators; optical polymers; optical waveguides; semiconductor waveguides; silicon devices;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2013.2284547

Filename

6623114