title: Low-voltage differentially-signaled modulators.
abstract: For exascale computing applications, viable optical solutions will need to operate using low voltage signaling and with low power consumption. In this work, the first differentially signaled silicon resonator is demonstrated which can provide a 5dB extinction ratio using 3fJ/bit and 500mV signal amplitude at 10Gbps. Modulation with asymmetric voltage amplitudes as low as 150mV with 3dB extinction are demonstrated at 10Gbps as well. Differentially signaled resonators simplify and expand the design space for modulator implementation and require no special drivers.
authors.affiliation: Applied Photonic Microsystems, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA. wzortm@sandia.gov
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Zortman
authors.forename: Anthony L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Lentine
authors.forename: Douglas C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Trotter
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Watts
mesh_terms: D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D055096:Optical Devices; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation*