An ultralow power athermal silicon modulator

Erman Timurdogan, Cheryl M. Sorace-Agaskar, Jie Sun, Ehsan Shah Hosseini, Aleksandr Biberman and Michael R. Watts ()
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Erman Timurdogan: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cheryl M. Sorace-Agaskar: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jie Sun: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ehsan Shah Hosseini: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Aleksandr Biberman: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael R. Watts: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Silicon photonics has emerged as the leading candidate for implementing ultralow power wavelength–division–multiplexed communication networks in high-performance computers, yet current components (lasers, modulators, filters and detectors) consume too much power for the high-speed femtojoule-class links that ultimately will be required. Here we demonstrate and characterize the first modulator to achieve simultaneous high-speed (25 Gb s−1), low-voltage (0.5 VPP) and efficient 0.9 fJ per bit error-free operation. This low-energy high-speed operation is enabled by a record electro-optic response, obtained in a vertical p–n junction device that at 250 pm V−1 (30 GHz V−1) is up to 10 times larger than prior demonstrations. In addition, this record electro-optic response is used to compensate for thermal drift over a 7.5 °C temperature range with little additional energy consumption (0.24 fJ per bit for a total energy consumption below 1.03 J per bit). The combined results of highly efficient modulation and electro-optic thermal compensation represent a new paradigm in modulator development and a major step towards single-digit femtojoule-class communications.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5008

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