Low Vpp, ultralow-energy, compact, high-speed silicon electro-optic modulator

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering

Background:

• Optical modulators are crucial components in high-speed data transmission.
• Existing silicon modulators often face trade-offs between speed, energy consumption, and driving voltage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel high-speed silicon optical modulator with reduced energy consumption and driving voltage.
• To explore the potential of microring resonators for efficient optical modulation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a microring resonator structure for optical modulation.
• Employed electric-field-induced carrier depletion in a reverse-biased lateral pn diode for refractive index modulation.
• Integrated the pn diode within the microring structure.

Main Results:

• Achieved a 3 dB bandwidth of 11 GHz with a low peak-to-peak driving voltage (Vpp) of 2 V.
• Demonstrated a modulation depth of 6.5 dB and an insertion loss of 2 dB.
• Reported ultralow energy consumption of 50 fJ/bit with a small device area (~1000 µm²).

Conclusions:

• The developed silicon optical modulator offers a promising solution for energy-efficient, high-speed optical communications.
• The microring resonator design effectively minimizes driving voltage and power consumption.
• This technology has the potential to significantly impact future data center and telecommunication networks.