Silicon Nanoantennas for Ultra‐Compact, High‐Speed and Low‐Power Consumption Electro‐Optic Modulators

Abstract

AbstractTo keep pace with the expanding data capacity in modern communications and increasing on‐chip integration density, it is highly desirable to have electro‐optic modulators featured with compact footprint, large modulation bandwidth, low energy consumption, and full complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility. Here, this work experimentally demonstrates a high‐speed electro‐optic modulator in the telecommunication wavelength range made of a 1D chain resonator of Mie‐resonant silicon nanoparticles. The modulator exploits the plasma dispersion effect and works in the carrier depletion configuration. The resulting large modulation bandwidth over 40 GHz and low energy consumption of 23 fJ bit−1 are attributed to its ultra‐compact footprint of 10 µm2. The open eye diagrams are measured up to 40 Gbits s−1. The modulators are fabricated at wafer level by a silicon photonic foundry using CMOS‐compatible process. This modulator shows promise for achieving higher integration density and larger modulation bandwidth. It can be added to the existing on‐chip device building blocks library and used for a wide range of applications, including data communication, quantum photonics, and non‐reciprocal optics.