Research on Silicon-based Optical Switches and Modulators

Abstract

[evdate 2009-12-17] William Mong Nano Seminar Series: Nanophotonic Devices on Silicon Chips. Abstract: It is an accepted fact that process scaling and operating frequency both contribute to increasing integrated circuit power dissipation due to interconnect. As a promising solution, intra-chip and inter-chip optical interconnection are attracting more and more research interests in recent years. Silicon photonics devices, including light sources, waveguides, modulators, switches, buffers, detectors, WDM components, play important role in optical interconnection in advantage of compatible with CMOS process. In this report, they propose a 4x4 high-speed thermo-optic SOI switch matrix used in intra-chip optical interconnection. With customized driving circuits, the switching speed can be less than 1μs. Sub-μm rib waveguide silicon modulators with MZI structure is also introduced, whose modulation efficiency can achieve 1.14V.mm and the data rate up to 0.4Gbps. Modulator based on micro-ring resonator are also presented, which shows 16dB extinction rate and 370ps rising time. Moreover, they analyzed the chirp characteristic of silicon modulator for the first time and propose a chirp-free modulator with a push-pull structure of two cascade micro-rings. All the devices are fabricated in mainland and can be integrated with detectors and couplers to play a basic optical interconnection function.

Duration: 34 min.