Abstract
A high speed silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator is proposed based on interleaved PN junctions. This doping profile enabled both high modulation efficiency of V(π)L(π) = 1.5~2.0 V·cm and low doping-induced loss of ~10 dB/cm by applying a relatively low doping concentration of 2 × 10(17) cm(-3). High speed operation up to 40 Gbit/s with 7.01 dB extinction ratio was experimentally demonstrated with a short phase shifter of only 750 μm.
Highlights
Silicon optical modulator is regarded as a principal component for chip-scale optical interconnection as its intrinsic compatibility to monolithically integrate with complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) microelectronic circuits [1,2]
In previous research [7,8], we have reported a numerical simulation of the depletion-mode silicon modulator based on interleaved PN junctions and its application with microring resonator, which indicated and experimentally demonstrated that, benefited from the enhanced overlap between the optical mode and the depletion region, high modulation efficiency can be obtained by applying a relatively low doping concentration
We propose a silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator based on that doping profile fabricated in a standard 0.18μm CMOS processes
Summary
Silicon optical modulator is regarded as a principal component for chip-scale optical interconnection as its intrinsic compatibility to monolithically integrate with complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) microelectronic circuits [1,2]. Some methods have been proposed to achieve both high modulation efficiency and low doping-induced loss such as using doping compensation method [5] and employing a tilted p-n junction [6]. These methods required either additional or high-precision processing steps which increased the complexity. In previous research [7,8], we have reported a numerical simulation of the depletion-mode silicon modulator based on interleaved PN junctions and its application with microring resonator, which indicated and experimentally demonstrated that, benefited from the enhanced overlap between the optical mode and the depletion region, high modulation efficiency can be obtained by applying a relatively low doping concentration.
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