Abstract
High-speed interconnects in data-center and campus-area networks crucially rely on efficient and technically simple transmission techniques that use intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) to bridge distances of up to a few kilometers. This requires electro-optic modulators that combine low operation voltages with large modulation bandwidth and that can be operated at high symbol rates using integrated drive circuits. Here we explore the potential of silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZM) for generating high-speed IM/DD signals at line rates of up to 120 Gbit/s. Using a SiGe BiCMOS signal-conditioning chip, we demonstrate that intensity-modulated duobinary (IDB) signaling allows to efficiently use the electrical bandwidth, thereby enabling line rates of up to 100 Gbit/s at bit error ratios (BER) of 8.5 × 10-5. This is the highest data rate achieved so far using a silicon-based MZM in combination with a dedicated signal-conditioning integrated circuit (IC). We further show four-level pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM4) at lines rates of up to 120 Gbit/s (BER = 3.2 × 10-3) using a high-speed arbitrary-waveform generator and a 0.5 mm long MZM. This is the highest data rate hitherto achieved with a sub-millimeter MZM on the silicon photonic platform.
Highlights
High-speed optical communication links in data-center and campus-area networks urgently call for efficient high-speed electro-optic (EO) modulators that can be densely integrated at low cost
We present a series of intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) transmission experiments, showing that these limitations can be overcome by highly efficient silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZM), which can be operated by BiCMOS signal-conditioning chips
Note that intensity-modulated duobinary (IDB) is different from optical duobinary (ODB) [38], where the modulator is biased at the null-point, and the peak-to-peak drive signal swing Ud is twice the π-voltage Uπ of the MZM
Summary
High-speed optical communication links in data-center and campus-area networks urgently call for efficient high-speed electro-optic (EO) modulators that can be densely integrated at low cost. “100 Gbit/s OOK using a silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) modulator,” in European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) (IEEE, 2015), paper PDP 1.4. “100 Gbit/s Serial Transmission Using a Silicon-Organic Hybrid (SOH) Modulator and a Duobinary Driver IC,” in Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) (OSA, 2017), paper W4I.5.
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