Abstract
The 2 μm wavelength band has become a promising candidate to be the next communication window. We demonstrate high-speed modulators based on a 220 nm silicon-on-insulator platform working at a wavelength of 1950 nm, using the free carrier plasma dispersion effect in silicon. A Mach–Zehnder interferometer modulator and a microring modulator have been characterized. At 1950 nm, the carrier-depletion modulator operates at a data rate of 20 Gbit/s with an extinction ratio of 5.8 dB and insertion loss of 13 dB. The modulation efficiency (V π ·L π ) is 2.68 V·cm at 4 V reverse bias. The device operation is broadband, and we also characterize its performance at 1550 nm. At 1550 nm, an open eye is obtained at 30 Gbit/s. The difference in bandwidth is caused by the bandwidth limit of the 2 μm measurement setup. We also show a ring modulator paired with a low power integrated driver working in hybrid carrier depletion and injection mode at a data rate of 3 Gbit/s with power consumption of 2.38 pJ/bit in the 2 μm wavelength range. This work is a proof of principle demonstration and paves a route toward a full silicon-based transceiver in the 2 μm window.
Highlights
Fiber-based telecommunication systems have sustained a startling increase in capacity demand since the inception of the internet
We have used a thulium-doped fiber amplifier (TDFA) to increase the optical power, similar to the one presented in Ref. [12]
As the peak output power of the tunable laser is only 7 mW, the TDFA is used before the device under test (DUT)
Summary
Fiber-based telecommunication systems have sustained a startling increase in capacity demand since the inception of the internet. With the latest digital-signal-processing (DSP)assisted coherent detection, we are approaching the theoretical capacity limit of conventional single mode fibers (SMFs) [2]. If this trend proceeds, a “capacity crunch” may happen in the future, where the current communication system can no longer sustain the bandwidth demands of the internet [1]. The crisis might not be imminent as it can be addressed by funding more infrastructure with multiple parallel links and by trimming down the transmitted data itself via compression. Neither solution can be scaled up indefinitely as multiple links and data compression imply substantial energy consumption.
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