A new electro-absorption modulator structure based on Ge/SiGe coupled quantum wells for on-chip optical interconnects

Yusi Chen; Xiaochi Chen; Yijie Huo; Ching-Ying Lu; Edward T. Fei; Kai Zang; Colleen Shang; Yangsen Kang; Jieyang Jia; Theodore I. Kamins; James S. Harris

doi:10.1117/12.2071673

13 November 2014 A new electro-absorption modulator structure based on Ge/SiGe coupled quantum wells for on-chip optical interconnects

Yusi Chen, Xiaochi Chen, Yijie Huo, Ching-Ying Lu, Edward T. Fei, Kai Zang, Colleen Shang, Yangsen Kang, Jieyang Jia, Theodore I. Kamins, James S. Harris

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9277, Nanophotonics and Micro/Nano Optics II; 92770Y (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2071673
Event: SPIE/COS Photonics Asia, 2014, Beijing, China

Abstract

In this paper, a novel electro-absorption modulation mechanism based on coupled-quantum-wells (CQWs) is proposed and demonstrated. Compared to a quantum-confined-stark-effect (QCSE) modulator with multiple fully decoupled single-QWs, the newly designed CQW modulator has two sub-quantum-wells partially coupled with a small barrier in between. Modulation is based on the change of electron and hole wave-function overlap in the CQWs, which requires a small bias electric field of <10 kV/cm) compared to the operation of a typical QCSE modulator which requires >50 kV/cm bias electrical field. Theoretically, the power consumption of this new CQW modulator can be lower than 20 fJ/bit and the speed can be higher than 10 Gbps, which outperforms the best Ge/SiGe QCSE modulator that has been previously demonstrated. A proof-of-concept Ge/SiGe CQW modulator based on this novel modulation mechanism was designed and fabricated. Instead of a traditional PIN diode structure, the new CQW modulator uses a PIP structure.

Citation Download Citation

Yusi Chen, Xiaochi Chen, Yijie Huo, Ching-Ying Lu, Edward T. Fei, Kai Zang, Colleen Shang, Yangsen Kang, Jieyang Jia, Theodore I. Kamins, and James S. Harris "A new electro-absorption modulator structure based on Ge/SiGe coupled quantum wells for on-chip optical interconnects", Proc. SPIE 9277, Nanophotonics and Micro/Nano Optics II, 92770Y (13 November 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2071673

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