BaTiO₃-based modulators for integrated optical interconnects

Silicon based photonic integrated circuits (Si-PIC) are becoming a key contender for data center related transceivers. Available Si-PIC platforms use fast and well-integrated modulators based on the plasma-dispersion effect. However, they intrinsically suffer from high-loss and coupled amplitude and phase modulation. Using the Pockels effect enables highly efficient, low-loss phase shifters without residual amplitude modulation. Hybrid barium titanite (BaTiO3) Siphotonics technology with a strong Pockels effect on large-scale silicon substrates has emerged as a platform to implement such devices. The platform enables scalable, integrated Si-BaTiO3 devices with large Pockels coefficients for electro-optic modulation. Based on this platform, various electro-optic devices such as low-power tuning elements, monolithically integrated Si-BaTiO3 modulators, and ultra-compact plasmonic BaTiO3 modulators have been demonstrated.