2019/05/28 by Mohammad H. Tahersima, Zhizhen Ma, Tahersima, Mohammad H. +17
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Optical Network Technologies #Optics (physics.optics) #Photonic and Optical Devices #Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1907.10756
openalex publication_date 2019/05/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Electro-optic signal modulation provides a key functionality in modern\ntechnology and information networks. Photonic integration has enabled not only\nminiaturizing photonic components, but also provided performance improvements\ndue to co-design addressing both electrical and optical device rules. However,\nthe millimeter-to-centimeter large footprint of many foundry-ready photonic\nelectro-optic modulators significantly limits on-chip scaling density. To\naddress these limitations, here we experimentally demonstrate a\ncoupling-enhanced electro-absorption modulator by heterogeneously integrating a\nnovel dual-gated indium-tin-oxide (ITO) phase-shifting tunable absorber placed\nat a silicon directional coupler region. Our experimental modulator shows a 2\ndB extinction ratio for a just 4 um short device at 4 volt bias. Since no\nmaterial nor optical resonances are deployed, this device shows spectrally\nbroadband operation as demonstrated here across the entire C-band. In\nconclusion we demonstrate a modulator utilizing strong index-change from both\nreal and imaginary part of active material enabling compact and high-performing\nmodulators using semiconductor foundry-near materials.\n