Planar n-SI-n heterostructure athermal InP (110) optical modulator

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optoelectronics
• Semiconductor Devices
• Optical Communications

Background:

• Traditional optical modulators often suffer from performance degradation due to temperature and wavelength fluctuations.
• Achieving high-speed, high-extinction ratio modulation with athermal operation is crucial for advanced optical networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate an athermal optical modulator based on indium phosphide (InP) with a simple heterostructure.
• To evaluate the modulator's performance, including extinction ratio, chirp, bandwidth, and modulation speed.
• To integrate the modulator into a twin-IQ configuration for advanced modulation formats.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a planar n-SI-n heterostructure using InP (110).
• Utilized symmetrical push-pull operation for modulation.
• Characterized a Mach-Zehnder optical modulator (MZM) for its electro-optic (EO) bandwidth and high-speed modulation capabilities.
• Demonstrated a twin-IQ modulator for QPSK modulation.

Main Results:

• Achieved a high extinction ratio of >25 dB across the C-band with zero-chirp modulation.
• The MZM demonstrated a 3 dB-EO bandwidth of 30 GHz and supported 40-Gb/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ) modulation.
• Exhibited wavelength and temperature insensitive operation.
• Successfully demonstrated a twin-IQ modulator capable of 56-Gb/s x 2 athermal QPSK modulation.

Conclusions:

• The developed InP optical modulator offers athermal operation, simplifying thermal management in optical systems.
• The device achieves excellent modulation performance, including high speed and extinction ratio, suitable for demanding optical communication applications.
• The integrated twin-IQ modulator enables advanced modulation formats with stable performance.