Deposited silicon high-speed integrated electro-optic modulator

Opt Express. 2009 Mar 30;17(7):5118-24. doi: 10.1364/oe.17.005118.

Abstract

We demonstrate a micrometer-scale electro-optic modulator operating at 2.5 Gbps and 10 dB extinction ratio that is fabricated entirely from deposited silicon. The polycrystalline silicon material exhibits properties that simultaneously enable high quality factor optical resonators and sub-nanosecond electrical carrier injection. We use an embedded p(+)n(-)n(+) diode to achieve optical modulation using the free carrier plasma dispersion effect. Active optical devices in a deposited microelectronic material can break the dependence on the traditional single layer silicon-on-insulator platform and help lead to monolithic large-scale integration of photonic networks on a microprocessor chip.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Electronics / instrumentation*
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Light
  • Optical Devices*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation*
  • Silicon / chemistry*
  • Silicon / radiation effects
  • Systems Integration
  • Transducers*

Substances

  • Silicon