2023/02/27 by Jonathan Peltier, Weiwei Zhang, Peltier, Jonathan +27 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies #Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Optical Network Technologies #Optics (physics.optics) #Photonic and Optical Devices
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2302.13768
openalex publication_date 2023/02/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Electro-optic silicon-based modulators contribute to ease the integration of high-speed and low-power consumption circuits for classical optical communications or quantum computers. However, the inversion symmetry in the silicon crystal structure inhibits the use of Pockels effect. An electric field-induced optical modulation equivalent to a Pockels effect can nevertheless be achieved in silicon by the use of DC Kerr effect. Although some theoretical and experimental studies have shown its existence in silicon, the DC Kerr effect in optical modulation have led to a negligible contribution so far. This paper reports demonstration of high-speed optical modulation based on the electric field-induced linear electro-optic effect in silicon PIN junction waveguides. The relative contributions of both plasma dispersion and Kerr effects are quantified and we show that the Kerr induced modulation is dominant when a high external DC electric field is applied. Finally, the high-speed modulation response is analyzed and eye diagram up to 100 Gbits/s in NRZ format are obtained. This work demonstrates high speed modulation based on Kerr effect in silicon, and its potential for low loss, quasi-pure phase modulation.