Towards a millivolt optical modulator with nano-slot waveguides

CMOS-compatible optical modulators are key components for future silicon-based photonic transceivers. However, achieving low modulation voltage and high speed operation still remains a challenge. As a possible solution, the silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) platform has been proposed. In the SOH approach the optical signal is guided by a silicon waveguide while the electro-optic effect is provided by an organic cladding with a high χ (2) -nonlinearity. In these modulators the optical nonlinear region needs to be connected to the modulating electrical source. This requires electrodes, which are both optically transparent and electrically highly conductive. To this end we introduce a highly conductive electron accumulation layer which is induced by an external DC "gate" voltage. As opposed to doping, the electron mobility is not impaired by impurity scattering. This way we demonstrate for the first time data encoding with an SOH electro-optic modulator. Using a first-generation device at a datarate of 42.7 Gbit/s, widely open eye diagrams were recorded. The measured frequency response suggests that significantly larger data rates are feasible. Raj, R. Ho, J. E. Cunningham, and A. V. Krishnamoorthy, "Ultra-low-energy all-CMOS modulator integrated with driver," Opt. Express 18(3), 3059-3070 (2010). 33. S. S. Li, and W. R. Thurber, "Dopant density and temperature-dependence of electron-mobility and resistivity in n-type silicon," Solid-State Electron. ©2011 Optical Society of America

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“…Recently, the silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) approach has been suggested [9][10][11][12]. An example of an SOH modulator is shown in Fig.…”

Section: Soh Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, first implementations of SOH modulators with sub-volt operation [11] have been already shown, and sinusoidal modulation up to 40 GHz was demonstrated [15,16]. However, the challenge in building low-voltage high-speed SOH modulators is to create a highly conductive connecting strip.…”

Section: Soh Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

427 Gbit/s electro-optic modulator in silicon technology

Alloatti¹,

Korn²,

Palmer³

et al. 2011

Opt. Express

186

157

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“…The SOH platform is an ideal candidate for fulfilling these requirements [14][15][16][17]. In an SOH modulator, the optical quasi-TE field (dominant electric field in parallel to the substrate plane) is guided by a silicon waveguide, while the electro-optic effect is provided by an organic cladding with a high χ (2) -nonlinearity.…”

Section: High-speed Soh Modulatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon-organic hybrid devices

et al. 2013

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Silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) devices combine silicon waveguides with a number of specialized materials, ranging from third-order optically-nonlinear molecules to second-order nonlinear polymers and liquid-crystals. Second-order nonlinear materials allow building high-speed and low-voltage electro-optic modulators, which are key components for future silicon-based photonics transceivers. We report on a 90 GHz bandwidth phase modulator, and on a 56 Gbit/s QPSK experiment using an IQ Pockels effect modulator. By using liquid-crystal claddings instead, we show experimentally that phase shifters with record-low power consumption and ultra-low voltage-length product of V π L = 0.06 Vmm. Secondorder nonlinear materials, moreover, allow creating nonlinear waveguides for sum-or difference-frequency generation, and for lowest-noise optical parametric amplification. These processes are exploited for a large variety of applications, like in the emerging field of on-chip generation of mid-IR wavelengths, where pump powers are significantly smaller compared to equivalent devices using third-order nonlinear materials. In this work, we present the first SOH waveguide design suited for second-order nonlinear processes. We predict for our device an amplification of 14 dB/cm assuming a conservative χ (2) -nonlinearity of 230 pm/V and a CW pump power as low as 20 dBm.

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“…We use the concept of silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) integration [21][22][23][24][25] which combines nanophotonic SOI waveguides with organic cladding materials to realize highly efficient broadband phase shifters [26]. The devices exhibit voltage-length products as small as U L π = 2 V mm at DC.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) frequency comb sources for terabit/s data transmission

Weimann¹,

Schindler²,

Palmer³

et al. 2014

Opt. Express

102

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Abstract:We demonstrate frequency comb sources based on siliconorganic hybrid (SOH) electro-optic modulators. Frequency combs with line spacings of 25 GHz and 40 GHz are generated, featuring flat-top spectra with less than 2 dB power variations over up to 7 lines. The combs are used for WDM data transmission at terabit/s data rates and distances of up to 300 km. References and links1. I. Coddington, W. C. Swann, L. Nenadovic, and N. R. Newbury, "Rapid and precise absolute distance measurements at long range," Nat. Photonics 3(6), 351-356 (2009). 2. S. T. Cundiff and A. M. Weiner, "Optical arbitrary waveform generation," Nat. Photonics 4(11), 760-766 (2010

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Towards a millivolt optical modulator with nano-slot waveguides

Cited by 126 publications

References 20 publications

427 Gbit/s electro-optic modulator in silicon technology

427 Gbit/s electro-optic modulator in silicon technology

Silicon-organic hybrid devices

Silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) frequency comb sources for terabit/s data transmission

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