Wide Spectral Characteristics of Si Photonic Crystal Mach-Zehnder Modulator Fabricated by Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Process

• DOI: 10.3390/photonics3020017
• Publication Date: 2016-04-04T14:44:35Z
• Authors: Yosuke Hinakura; Yosuke Terada; Takuya Tamura; Toshihiko Baba
• Keywords: Extinction ratio; Cutoff frequency

Optical modulators for optical interconnects require a small size, voltage, high speed and wide working spectrum. For this purpose, we developed Si slow-light Mach-Zehnder via 180 nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process. We employed 200 μm lattice-shifted photonic crystal waveguides with interleaved p-n junctions as phase shifters. The group index spectrum of slow light was almost flat at ng ≈ 20 but exhibited ±10% fluctuation over wavelength bandwidth nm. cutoff frequency measured in ranged from 15 to GHz; thus, clear open eyes were observed the 25 Gbps modulation. However, reflected extinction ratio bit-error rate. stable error-free operation, 1 dB margin is necessary ratio. In addition, constructed device varied values confirmed that enhanced by larger up 60. reduced because increased mismatch between radio signals. Therefore, available modulation limited 40 current design.