Antonello Cutolo, Mario Iodice, et al.
Journal of Lightwave Technology
In this paper, we describe two different kinds of silicon optical modulators both integrated into a silicon on silicon optical channel waveguide which can be realized using a standard bipolar process. The possibility of using standard, well-known technology presents several advantages with respect to III-V optoelectronics. The first device presented is based on a three-terminal active device and exploits the plasma dispersion effect to achieve the desired modulation. The active device used is a bipolar mode field effect transistor; we show how the introduction of the third control terminal introduces some definite advantages with respect to commonly p-i-n driven modulators. The second is an electrically controlled Bragg reflector. In this case, although controlled by a p-i-n diode, fast switching speed is achieved because lower injection levels are required. Numerical simulations and preliminary experimental results are presented on both devices.
Antonello Cutolo, Mario Iodice, et al.
Journal of Lightwave Technology