Hybrid silicon-vanadium dioxide electro-optic modulators

Kevin J. Miller; Petr Markov; Robert E. Marvel; Richard F. Haglund; Sharon M. Weiss

doi:10.1117/12.2213372

14 March 2016 Hybrid silicon-vanadium dioxide electro-optic modulators

Kevin J. Miller, Petr Markov, Robert E. Marvel, Richard F. Haglund, Sharon M. Weiss

Proceedings Volume 9752, Silicon Photonics XI; 975203 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2213372
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2016, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Small-footprint, low-power devices that can modulate optical signals at THz speeds would transform next-generation onchip photonics. We describe a hybrid silicon–vanadium dioxide (Si-VO₂) electro-optic ring resonator modulator as a candidate platform for achieving this performance benchmark. Vanadium dioxide (VO₂) is a strongly correlated material exhibiting a semiconductor-to-metal transition (SMT) accompanied by large changes in electrical and optical properties. While VO₂ can be switched optically on a sub-picosecond time scale, the ultimate electrical switching speed remains to be determined. In a 5 μm radius Si-VO₂ ring resonator, we achieve 1.5 dB modulation in response to a 10 ns square voltage pulse of 2.5 V. In the steady state regime, we report a modulation depth of 10 dB. The larger modulation depth at longer timescales is attributed to a Joule heating contribution. Experimental results, corroborated by FDTD simulations, reveal the relationship between the portion of a VO₂ patch undergoing the SMT and the resulting effects on the Si-VO₂ device performance. This work indicates that with further reduction of VO₂ patch sizes and increase in resonator Q factor, there is promise for the Si-VO₂ ring resonator electro-optic modulator as a competitive option for on-chip photonics technology.

Citation Download Citation

Kevin J. Miller, Petr Markov, Robert E. Marvel, Richard F. Haglund, and Sharon M. Weiss "Hybrid silicon-vanadium dioxide electro-optic modulators", Proc. SPIE 9752, Silicon Photonics XI, 975203 (14 March 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2213372

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