Low-voltage, high speed, compact silicon modulator for BPSK modulation

Abstract

A low voltage, high speed, compact silicon Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) modulator for Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation has been demonstrated. High modulation efficiency, VπLπ equals to 0.45V·cm, was obtained in a 1mm length device owing to a higher doping concentration and low-loss traveling-wave electrode. 25 Gb/s non-return-to-zero(NRZ)-BPSK with 6Vpp RF driving signal was achieved. Driven by a very low 3Vpp RF signal, the 10 Gb/s NRZ-BPSK was also realized benefiting from the high modulation efficiency and the low-voltage driving scheme. The power consumption for the BPSK modulation was as low as 0.118 W. These results prove that the silicon modulator is suitable for advanced communication system with low power consumption.