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Silicon photonic modulators with a 2 × 1 Fabry-Perot cavity
Hengzhen Cao1, Jin Xie1, Weichao Sun1
1State Key Laboratory of Extreme Photonics and Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, International Research Center for Advanced Photonics, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Nanophotonics (Berlin, Germany)
|February 10, 2025
Summary
This study introduces novel silicon photonics modulators using a circulator-free Fabry-Perot cavity. These devices demonstrate reduced wavelength variations and enhanced modulation bandwidth for high-speed optical communication.
Area of Science:
- Photonics
- Optoelectronics
- Integrated Optics
Background:
- Silicon photonics modulators are crucial for high-speed optical communication.
- Fabry-Perot (FP) cavities offer potential for modulator design but face challenges with wavelength stability and bandwidth.
- Existing designs often require circulators, adding complexity and cost.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and demonstrate a novel silicon photonics modulator design based on a circulator-free 2x1 Fabry-Perot cavity.
- To enhance device stability by reducing resonance-wavelength variations.
- To achieve high modulation bandwidth for advanced optical systems.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing two asymmetric multimode-waveguide grating (AMWG) reflectors to form the FP cavity.
- Implementing a broadened straight modulation section with interleaved PN junctions.
- Optimizing AMWG reflectivity to control the FP cavity's Q factor.
- Leveraging optical peaking enhancement for bandwidth improvement.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated a circulator-free 2x1 FP cavity silicon photonics modulator.
- Broadened modulation section significantly reduced stochastic resonance-wavelength variations by 43% compared to microring resonators.
- Achieved modulation bandwidth exceeding 40 GHz.
- Successfully demonstrated eye diagrams for 50 Gbps high-speed modulation.
Conclusions:
- The proposed silicon photonics modulator design effectively minimizes resonance-wavelength variations.
- The design achieves high modulation bandwidth suitable for next-generation optical communication.
- Broadening the modulation section is a key strategy for improving device stability and performance.
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