Hybrid silicon on insulator/polymer electro-optical intensity modulator operating at 780 nm

Abstract

Currently inorganic materials prevail as the nonlinear active medium for light modulation in electro-optical (EO) device technology. A recent promising trend is to consider organic nonlinear optical materials for application in EO modulators due to their multiple advantages including low costs and high EO coefficients. In this paper, we proposed a new type of polymer EO modulator whose fabrication is compatible with the currently used silicon on insulator technology. Our numerical optimization of the proposed structure demonstrates that it is theoretically possible to achieve a half-wave voltage as low as 1.56 V for a 1 cm long modulator structure operating at 780 nm. Based on the results of the numerical calculations, we also outline the advantages and drawbacks of the design.