2012/11/11 by D. M. Gill, Gill, D. M., W. M. J. Green +13
Engineering · #Advanced Photonic Communication Systems #FOS: Physical sciences #Optical Network Technologies #Optics (physics.optics) #Photonic and Optical Devices
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1211.2419
openalex publication_date 2012/11/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We derive equations that quantify silicon Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) modulator impact upon optical link budget for NRZ transmissions based solely upon modulator extinction ratio (ER), the efficiency-loss figure of merit (FOM), and peak-to-peak drive voltage (Vpp). Our modulator link penalty equations transform the modulator efficiency-loss FOM from a simple device quality metric into a means of predicting how design and technology choices impact system margin. Our results indicate that, with a 17.8 V-cm FOM and 1 Vpp drive, designing an MZI to have an ER anywhere within the large range from 3.5-10 dB leads to nearly constant link margins, identical to within 0.5 dB.