Silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator of extinction ratio beyond 10 dB at 10.0-12.5 Gbps

Silicon Mach-Zehnder modulators with reduced series resistance in lateral PN junction rib-waveguide phase shifters for enhanced high-speed response are fabricated and characterized. Extinction ratio higher than 10 dB is obtained at 10.3-11.7 Gbps with mask margins of 27% (10.3-Gbps 10GBE), 16% (10.7-Gbps STM-64/OC-192) and 10% (11.3-Gbps STM-64/OC-192) in eye-diagram measurements incorporating mask tests using a RF cut-off filter. In unfiltered eye-diagram measurements without mask tests, extinction ratio higher than 13 dB is obtained at 10.0-12.5 Gbps. The silicon modulators reveal high-speed performance comparable with that of lithium-niobate modulators in high-speed optical fiber telecommunications.