Silicon photonic optical-electrical-optical converters based on load-resistor and current-injection operation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates monolithically integrated silicon photonic OEO converters with reconfigurable nonlinear transfer functions and on-chip RF gain, advancing scalable optoelectronic computing and optical neural networks.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of a monolithic, foundry-fabricated silicon-photonic load-resistor OEO converter with reconfigurable nonlinear transfer and RF gain.

Findings

RF OEO gain scales linearly with MRM bias power

Clear eye diagrams up to 4 Gb/s for load-resistor variant

Activation slope exceeds unity with 3.9 dB extinction-ratio regeneration

Abstract

Optical-electrical-optical (OEO) converters are key primitives for low-latency, energy-efficient photonic computing because they enable nonlinear activation and optical signal regeneration on chip. We report two monolithically integrated silicon-photonic OEO converters-load-resistor (high-speed variant) and current-injection (high-gain variant) types-fabricated at a silicon photonics foundry. Each device combines a germanium photodetector with a micro-ring modulator (MRM). The converters exhibit reconfigurable nonlinear transfer functions and measurable on-chip RF OEO gain. The RF OEO gain scales linearly with the MRM bias power, with slopes of 0.10 mW^-1 (load-resistor of 10 k{\Omega}) and 1.4 mW^-1 (current-injection), enabling a gain > 1 region at practical bias powers (~10 mW and ~1 mW, respectively). Eye diagrams confirm clear openings up to 4 Gb/s for a high-speed load-resistor variant with a 500-{\Omega} load. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of a monolithically integrated, foundry-fabricated silicon-photonic load-resistor type OEO converter exhibiting reconfigurable nonlinear transfer and on-chip RF OEO gain. In the carrier-injection device, the activation slope exceeds unity, yielding 3.9 dB extinction-ratio regeneration. Short-pulse measurements yield 3-dB bandwidths of 1.49 GHz, 160 MHz (load-resistor of 500 {\Omega} and 10 k{\Omega}), and 76 MHz (current-injection), consistent with the RF data. Energy analysis shows an energy-bandwidth trade-off (RC-limited for load-resistor vs. lifetime-limited for injection) and outline routes to sub-pJ/bit operation via reduced capacitance and improved EO efficiency. These results establish silicon-photonic OEO converters as compact, foundry-compatible building blocks for scalable optoelectronic computing and optical neural networks.