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Broadband Mach-Zehnder Modulator with Linear Driver in Electronic-Photonic Co-Integrated Platform
Abstract
A monolithically integrated electronic-photonic Mach-Zehnder modulator is presented, incorporating electronic linear drivers along photonic components. An electro-optical 3 dB & 6 dB bandwidth of 24 GHz and 34 GHz respectively was measured. The on-chip drivers decrease the V π by a factor of 10.
... Traveling waves have a bandwidth advantage over lumped driving schemes but are, in general, more power-hungry [30]. To compensate for the electrical losses in the traveling wave electrodes, segmented topology is used at an additional cost of system complexity and energy efficiency [93]. The coupling between the microwave and optical modes can be improved by using traveling wave electrodes [94], with a core-based split PN junction phase shifter of length 1.5 mm, the modulation-efficiency of 0.75 V·cm could be achieved. ...
... The design work was facilitated by Mr. Christian Kress from Paderborn University, resulting in the monolithic integration of electronic and photonic integrated circuits (ePIC) MZM with on-chip electrical drivers [61,90]. With a PS length of 6.5 mm and an effective V π of 420 mV and extinction ratio (ER) of 43 dB, it was possible to generate pulses of bandwidth 120 GHz and data transmission up to 30 Gbit/s [93]. An analysis of non-idealities and filter roll-off factor is studied for this design, and 0.7 % r.m.s. ...
... The estimated bandwidth of the device was expected to be between 30 GHz and 35 GHz (Paderborn University), with the employed BiCMOS technology from IHP for modulators with segmented drivers [92]. The bandwidth limitation is the commutative result of the limited performance of the on-chip amplifier and driver and the photonic part, and also due to the additional parasitic losses due to the layout [93]. With the second generation of the silicon modulator with the same design parameters, a better performance was observed. ...
The escalating communications traffic in optical networks has driven the exploration of signal manipulation in the optical domain as a promising technology in the last two decades. The surge in data traffic results from the rapid expansion of distributed computing, sensor networks, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud-based services. As we enter the era of quantum communication, autonomous driving, and 6G, the global data flow continues to grow exponentially. Traditional electronic systems have been instrumental in improving signal transmission and reception quality through electronic signal processing. However, they suffer from limitations such as finite operational bandwidth, signal degradation over transmission lines, latency issues, susceptibility to electromagnetic interference (EMI), high power consumption, and cost constraints.
Optical signal processing enabled by silicon photonics offers a solution with significantly higher bandwidth capabilities and faster data processing, along with cost-effective and lowlatency systems. Photonic devices are immune to environmental radiation and EMI, making them suitable for space and quantum applications. Silicon photonic technology has further propelled the application field harnessed by photonic integrated circuits, with matured CMOS-compatible fabrication enabling the development of high-performance optical processing units. The convergence of electronics and photonics on silicon photonic platforms has resulted in significant advancements in the field of optical communications and microwave photonics. This thesis explores the advancements in the field of silicon photonics aggregated with innovative optical signal processing to achieve pivotal improvements in novel methods for signal generation and measurement. It evaluates the performance of various silicon modulators in terms of data transmission and sinc-pulse sequence generation. These silicon modulators are utilized to develop novel photonic-assisted architectures to enhance the transmission channel capacity of the Nyquist transceiver system by addressing the limitations of the analog output bandwidth of generators and receivers in conventional optical transceiver systems. Furthermore, the presented research delves into silicon photonics for microwave photonics applications with the implementation of passive and active photonic devices. The study presents integrated photonic frequency measurement systems, showcasing their superior performance in real-time temporal and spectral analysis of micro and mm-wave signals with best-in-class measurement resolution and accuracy.
A frequency-flexible Nyquist pulse synthesizer is presented with optical pulse bandwidths up to f opt = 100 GHz and repetition rates equal to f opt /9, fabricated in an electronic-photonic co-integrated platform utilizing linear on-chip drivers.
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We present a monolithic CMOS-integrated nanophotonic transmitter with a link sensitivity comparable with a 25-Gb/s commercial reference transmitter. Our CMOS transmitter shows error-free operation up to 32 Gb/s, and exhibits a 4.8-dB extinction ratio and 4.9-dB insertion loss at 25 Gb/s.
We have investigated two novel concepts for the design of transmission lines in travelling wave Mach-Zehnder interferometer based Silicon Photonics depletion modulators overcoming the analog bandwidth limitations arising from cross-talk between signal lines in push-pull modulators and reducing the linear losses of the transmission lines. We experimentally validate the concepts and demonstrate an E/O −3 dBe bandwidth of 16 GHz with a 4V drive voltage (in dual drive configuration) and 8.8 dB on-chip insertion losses. Significant bandwidth improvements result from suppression of cross-talk. An additional bandwidth enhancement of ~11% results from a reduction of resistive transmission line losses. Frequency dependent loss models for loaded transmission lines and E/O bandwidth modeling are fully verified.