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Optics Express

Optics Express

  • Editor: C. Martijn de Sterke
  • Vol. 20, Iss. 28 — Dec. 31, 2012
  • pp: 29223–29236

Optics InfoBase > Optics Express > Volume 20 > Issue 28 > Page 29223

Adiabatic microring modulators

Aleksandr Biberman, Erman Timurdogan, William A. Zortman, Douglas C. Trotter, and Michael R. Watts  »View Author Affiliations


Optics Express, Vol. 20, Issue 28, pp. 29223-29236 (2012)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.20.029223


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Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate and experimentally characterize a new class of high-performance silicon photonic modulators—the adiabatic microring modulator. The adiabatic microring modulator utilizes a vertical PN junction and interior electrical contacts, leveraging all the advantages of previously-demonstrated microdisk modulators. However, this device also incorporates an adiabatic transition from the wide, multimode contact region, to a narrow, single-mode coupling region, eliminating unwanted spatial modes common to microdisks. As a result, the adiabatic microring modulator demonstrated in this work is the smallest microring modulator demonstrated to date, with a diameter of only 4 μm, yielding a 6.92-THz uncorrupted free spectral range. Here, we perform an experimental comparative analysis between silicon adiabatic microring modulators, silicon microdisk modulators, and a commercial lithium-niobate Mach-Zehnder modulator. We show that the silicon adiabatic microring modulator using partial doping is capable of operating at 12.5-Gb/s data rates and beyond. This device combines the best of all modulator designs, leveraging the depletion-based method to maximize the speed, utilizing the vertical-junction configuration to minimize the power consumption, employing a unique adiabatic design to eliminate higher-order modes, and using partial doping to reduce resistance, further enhancing the speed of the device.

© 2012 OSA

OCIS Codes
(130.0250) Integrated optics : Optoelectronics
(230.3120) Optical devices : Integrated optics devices
(250.3140) Optoelectronics : Integrated optoelectronic circuits
(250.4110) Optoelectronics : Modulators

ToC Category:
Optoelectronics

History
Original Manuscript: October 11, 2012
Revised Manuscript: December 4, 2012
Manuscript Accepted: December 10, 2012
Published: December 17, 2012

Citation
Aleksandr Biberman, Erman Timurdogan, William A. Zortman, Douglas C. Trotter, and Michael R. Watts, "Adiabatic microring modulators," Opt. Express 20, 29223-29236 (2012)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-20-28-29223


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