Fast silicon optical modulator

Ansheng Liu; Richard Jones; Ling Liao; Dean A. Samara-Rubio; Doron Rubin; Oded Cohen; Remus Nicolaescu; Mario J. Paniccia

doi:10.1117/12.531994

1 July 2004 Fast silicon optical modulator

Ansheng Liu, Richard Jones, Ling Liao, Dean A. Samara-Rubio, Doron Rubin, Oded Cohen, Remus Nicolaescu, Mario J. Paniccia

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5357, Optoelectronic Integration on Silicon; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.531994
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2004, 2004, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We present design, fabrication, and testing of a high-speed all-silicon optical phase modulator in silicon-on-insulator (SOI). The optical modulator is based on a novel silicon waveguide phase shifter containing a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor. We show that, under the accumulation condition, the drive voltage induced charge density change in the silicon waveguide having a MOS capacitor can be used to modulate the phase of the optical mode due to the free-carrier plasma dispersion effect. We experimentally determined the phase modulation efficiency of the individual phase shifter and compared measurements with simulations. A good agreement between theory and experiment was obtained for various phase shifter lengths. We also characterized both the low- and high-frequency performance of the integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) modulator. For a MZI device containing two identical phase shifters of 10 mm, we obtained a DC extinction ratio above 16 dB. For a MZI modulator containing a single-phase shifter of 2.5 mm in one of the two arms, the frequency dependence of the optical response was obtained by a small signal measurement. A 3-dB bandwidth exceeding 1 GHz was demonstrated. This modulation frequency is two orders of magnitude higher than has been demonstrated in any silicon modulators based on current injection in SOI.

Citation Download Citation

Ansheng Liu, Richard Jones, Ling Liao, Dean A. Samara-Rubio, Doron Rubin, Oded Cohen, Remus Nicolaescu, and Mario J. Paniccia "Fast silicon optical modulator", Proc. SPIE 5357, Optoelectronic Integration on Silicon, (1 July 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.531994

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