Abstract
We report a slow-light silicon modulator that enables high-speed PAM operation without using an electrical digital-to-analogue converter (DAC). Bragg grating resonators, integrated into each arm of a Mach-Zehnder modulator, enhance the phase modulation through the slow light effect. The optical 4-level PAM signal is generated by driving directly the segmented phase shifter design with two binary signals. This modulator presents an ultra-compact footprint (LSL-MZM = 570 μm), low energy consumption (73 fJ/bit), large electro-optic bandwidth (>40 GHz). Up to 90 Gb/s is achieved over an nm-range spectral operation bandwidth (Δλ = 2 nm). Compared to other low-energy resonator-based modulators, such as micro-rings, this operating bandwidth confers higher stability with a potential operating temperature range of ΔT = 50 °C. We further examine the robustness of the proposed design to fabrication variations by measurements of spectral properties across the wafer. This modulator is of particular interest for applications, such as short-range data communications that require multiple compact and energy-efficient modulators on a single chip.
PDF Article
More Like This
Cited By
You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.
Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription
Add to BibSonomy