Miniaturized Low-power Electro-optic Modulator Based on Silicon Integrated Nanophotonics and Organic Polymers

TL;DR

This paper presents a compact, low-power electro-optic modulator using silicon nanophotonics and organic polymers, achieving high efficiency, broadband operation, and high-speed modulation up to 40GHz.

Contribution

It introduces a novel silicon slot photonic crystal waveguide with engineered EO polymer for record-high modulation efficiency and bandwidth in a miniaturized device.

Findings

Record-high effective in-device r33 of 1190pm/V

VπL of 0.291Vmm in a push-pull configuration

Modulation bandwidth up to 40GHz

Abstract

We design and demonstrate a compact, low-power, low-dispersion and broadband optical modulator based on electro-optic (EO) polymer refilled silicon slot photonic crystal waveguide (PCW). The EO polymer is engineered for large EO activity and near-infrared transparency. The half-wave switching-voltage is measured to be V{\pi}=0.97V over optical spectrum range of 8nm, corresponding to a record-high effective in-device r33 of 1190pm/V and V{\pi} L of 0.291Vmm in a push-pull configuration. Excluding the slow-light effect, we estimate the EO polymer is poled with an ultra-high efficiency of 89pm/V in the slot. In addition, to achieve high-speed modulation, silicon PCW is selectively doped to reduce RC time delay. The 3-dB RF bandwidth of the modulator is measured to be 11GHz, and a modulation response up to 40GHz is observed.