Abstract
We demonstrate the first sub-100 μm silicon Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs) that operate at >10 Gb/s, by exploiting low-dispersion slow-light in lattice-shifted photonic crystal waveguides (LSPCWs). We use two LSPCW-MZM structures, one with LSPCWs in both arms of the MZM, and the other with an LSPCW in only one of the arms. Using the first structure we demonstrate 10 Gb/s operation with a operating bandwidth of 12.5 nm, in a device with a phase-shifter length of only 50 μm. Using the second structure, owing to a larger group index as well as lower spectral noise, we demonstrate 40 Gb/s operation with a phase-shifter length of only 90 μm, which is more than an order-of-magnitude shorter than most 40 Gb/s MZMs.
Highlights
Silicon Mach-Zehnder optical modulators (MZMs) are generally considered to be versatile compared to resonator and electro-absorption type silicon modulators, due to their amplitudeand phase-modulation capabilities while having a large working spectrum [1]
We demonstrate the first sub-100 μm MZMs to operate at >10 Gb/s using Dual- and Single-lattice-shifted photonic crystal waveguides (LSPCWs)-MZMs, with wide-band and high-speed operations, respectively
We demonstrate 10 Gb/s operation of a Dual-LSPCW-MZM with only 50 μm length, and with 12.5 nm bandwidth made possible by the LSPCW
Summary
Silicon Mach-Zehnder optical modulators (MZMs) are generally considered to be versatile compared to resonator and electro-absorption type silicon modulators, due to their amplitudeand phase-modulation capabilities while having a large working spectrum [1]. We recently demonstrated a 10 Gb/s PCW-MZM with a length of only 200 μm [10, 11], which operated by carrier-depletion and, at the same time, with a peak-to-peak drive voltage (Vpp) smaller than that of the shortest carrier-injection MZM [2]. The operating bandwidth of PCW-MZMs can be widened by employing lattice-shifted PCWs (LSPCWs), where the spatial shift of certain holes can modify the band structure to produce low-dispersion slow-light [13,14,15,16].
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