Slope efficiency and spurious-free dynamic range of silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator upon carrier depletion and injection effects.
We investigate the performances of a silicon PN-junction Mach-Zehnder modulator for analog application. The slope efficiency and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of such a modulator upon carrier depletion and carrier injection effects are characterized and compared. Input RF frequency-dependence measurements show that the depletion-type modulator is usually with ~20 dB ∙ Hz(2/3) higher SFDR comparing to the injection-type modulator, yet with an order-of-magnitude lower slope efficiency. For the depletion-type and injection-type modulators, the measured maximum SFDRs are respectively ~95 dB ∙ Hz(2/3) and 75 dB∙Hz(2/3), with maximum slope efficiency of 0.3 V(-1) and 8 V(-1<). We numerically model the SFDR by using the experimentally extracted effective refractive index change, which shows good agreement with the measurements.
Institute of Microelectronics, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, 11 Science Park Road, Science Park II, 117685 Singapore. luox@ime.a-star.edu.sg
Xianshu
X
Luo
Xiaoguang
X
Tu
Junfeng
J
Song
Lu
L
Ding
Qing
Q
Fang
Tsung-Yang
TY
Liow
Mingbin
M
Yu
Guo-Qiang
GQ
Lo
D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007368:Interferometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012666:Semiconductors; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation*