Abstract
We demonstrate U-shaped silicon PN junctions for energy efficient Mach-Zehnder modulators and ring modulators in the O-band. This type of junction has an improved modulation efficiency compared to existing PN junction geometries, has low losses, and supports high-speed operation. The U-shaped junctions were fabricated in an 8" silicon photonics platform, and they were incorporated in travelling-wave Mach-Zehnder modulators and microring modulators. For the high-bandwidth Mach-Zehnder modulator, the DC VπL at -0.5 V bias was 4.6 V·mm. It exhibited a 3dB bandwidth of 13 GHz, and eye patterns at up to 24 Gb/s were observed. A VπL as low as ~2.6 V·mm at a -0.5 V bias was measured in another device. The ring modulator tuning efficiency was 40 pm·V-1 between 0 V and -0.5 V bias. It had a 3-dB bandwidth of 13.5 GHz and open eye patterns at up to 13 Gb/s were measured. This type of PN junctions can be easily fabricated without extra masks and can be incorporated into generic silicon photonics platforms.
Highlights
Silicon (Si) optical modulators, in the form of Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs) and ring modulators, are an attractive solution for high-bandwidth electrical-to-optical conversion, since they can be fabricated at the wafer-scale in foundry processes [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
We demonstrate U-shaped silicon PN junctions for energy efficient Mach-Zehnder modulators and ring modulators in the O-band
We present the design and measurements of U-shaped PN junctions for efficient Si MZMs and ring modulators operating in the O-band
Summary
Silicon (Si) optical modulators, in the form of Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs) and ring modulators, are an attractive solution for high-bandwidth electrical-to-optical conversion, since they can be fabricated at the wafer-scale in foundry processes [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] These devices typically use carrier accumulation and depletion via the plasma dispersion effect, which is weak and is lower in the O-band than the C-band [1]. The junction is used to demonstrate a 24 Gb/s Si MZM with a 3 dB electro-optic (EO) bandwidth of 13 GHz and a 13 Gb/s microring modulator These results compare favorably against state-of-the-art carrier accumulation MZMs [8], with the additional advantage that this junction has low loss. This modulation junction was fabricated on an 8” silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer as part of the multilayer silicon nitride (SiN)-on-Si platform in [27]
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