100 GHz silicon–organic hybrid modulator

Luca Alloatti; Robert Palmer; Sebastian Diebold; Kai Philipp Pahl; Baoquan Chen; Raluca Dinu; Maryse Fournier; Jean-Marc Fedeli; Thomas Zwick; Wolfgang Freude; Christian Koos; Juerg Leuthold

doi:10.1038/lsa.2014.54

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100 GHz silicon–organic hybrid modulator

Original Articles

- 100 GHz silicon–organic hybrid modulator
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 3, Issue 2, (2014)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Institutes IPQ and IMT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
  2.Institute IHE, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
  3.GigOptix Inc., Bothell, WA, USA
  4.CEA, Leti, 38054 Grenoble, France
  5.Institute of Photonic Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
- Author bio：
  
  Professor C Koos, Institutes IPQ and IMT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany Email: christian.koos@kit.edu
  Dr L Alloatti, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Email: alloatti@mit.edu
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/lsa.2014.54
  CLC：
- Published：2014-06，
  
  Published Online：23 May 2014，
  
  Received：11 July 2013，
  
  Revised：26 February 2014，
  
  Accepted：03 March 2014
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Alloatti, L. et al. 100 GHz silicon–organic hybrid modulator. Light: Science & Applications, 3, e173 (2014).
DOI：

Alloatti, L. et al. 100 GHz silicon–organic hybrid modulator. Light: Science & Applications, 3, e173 (2014). DOI： 10.1038/lsa.2014.54.

摘要

Abstract

Electro-optic modulation at frequencies of 100 GHz and beyond is important for photonic-electronic signal processing at the highest speeds. To date

however

only a small number of devices exist that can operate up to this frequency. In this study

we demonstrate that this frequency range can be addressed by nanophotonic

silicon-based modulators. We exploit the ultrafast Pockels effect by using the silicon–organic hybrid (SOH) platform

which combines highly nonlinear organic molecules with silicon waveguides. Until now

the bandwidth of these devices was limited by the losses of the radiofrequency (RF) signal and the RC (resistor-capacitor) time constant of the silicon structure. The RF losses are overcome by using a device as short as 500 µm

and the RC time constant is decreased by using a highly conductive electron accumulation layer and an improved gate insulator. Using this method

we demonstrate for the first time an integrated silicon modulator with a 3dB bandwidth at an operating frequency beyond 100 GHz. Our results clearly indicate that the RC time constant is not a fundamental speed limitation of SOH devices at these frequencies. Our device has a voltage–length product of only

=11 V mm

which compares favorably with the best silicon-photonic modulators available today. Using cladding materials with stronger nonlinearities

the voltage–length product is expected to improve by more than an order of magnitude.

关键词

Keywords

100GHzhigh-speed silicon modulatornanophotonicssilicon–organic hybrid

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