title: Coupling modulation of microrings at rates beyond the linewidth limit.
abstract: We demonstrate optical modulation rates exceeding the conventional cavity linewidth limit using a silicon coupling modulated microring. Small-signal measurements show coupling modulation was free of the parasitic cavity linewidth limitations at rates at least 6× the cavity linewidth. Eye diagram measurements show coupling modulation achieved data rates > 2× the rate attainable by conventional intracavity phase modulation. We propose to use DC-balanced encoding to mitigate the inter-symbol interference in coupling modulation. Analysis shows that coupling modulation can be more efficient than intracavity modulation for large output swings and high-Q resonators. Coupling modulation enables very high-Q resonant modulators to be simultaneously low-power and high-speed, features which are mutually incompatible in typical resonant modulators studied to date.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Institute for Optical Sciences, University of Toronto, 10 King’s College Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G4, Canada. wesley.sacher@mail.utoronto.ca
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Sacher
authors.forename: W M J
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Assefa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Barwicz
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shank
authors.forename: Y A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Vlasov
authors.forename: J K S
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Poon
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008027:Light; D008904:Miniaturization; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*