Femtojoule electro-optic modulation using a silicon-organic hybrid device
Femtojoule electro-optic modulation using a silicon-organic hybrid device
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DOI：
10.1038/lsa.2015.28
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发表时间：
2015-02-01
影响因子：
19.4
通讯作者：
Koos, Christian
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Koeber, Sebastian;Palmer, Robert;Koos, Christian
高效节能的电光调制器是短距离光互连的核心，硅光子学被认为是实现这种设备的领先技术。然而，全硅器件的性能受到材料固有特性的限制。特别是，硅中缺乏线性电光效应，使得节能光电子界面的集成具有挑战性。硅-有机杂化（SOH）集成可以通过将纳米光子硅波导与有机包层材料结合来克服这些限制，从而为通过分子工程设计光学特性提供了前景。在本文中，我们展示了一个具有前所未有效率的SOH Mach-Zehnder调制器：1mm长的器件仅消耗0.7 fJ比特（-1）来产生12.5 Gbit（-1）的数据流，其误码率低于硬决策前向纠错的阈值。这个功耗代表了在任何材料系统中证明的非谐振马赫-曾德尔调制器的最低值。它是由一种新型的有机电光材料实现的，这种材料设计用于高发色团密度和增强的分子取向。该器件的电光系数r（33）接近180 pm V-1，数据速率可达40 Gbit / s（-1）。
Energy-efficient electro-optic modulators are at the heart of short-reach optical interconnects, and silicon photonics is considered the leading technology for realizing such devices. However, the performance of all-silicon devices is limited by intrinsic material properties. In particular, the absence of linear electro-optic effects in silicon renders the integration of energy-efficient photonic-electronic interfaces challenging. Silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) integration can overcome these limitations by combining nanophotonic silicon waveguides with organic cladding materials, thereby offering the prospect of designing optical properties by molecular engineering. In this paper, we demonstrate an SOH Mach-Zehnder modulator with unprecedented efficiency: the 1-mm-long device consumes only 0.7 fJ bit(-1) to generate a 12.5 Gbit s(-1) data stream with a bit-error ratio below the threshold for hard-decision forward-error correction. This power consumption represents the lowest value demonstrated for a non-resonant Mach-Zehnder modulator in any material system. It is enabled by a novel class of organic electro-optic materials that are designed for high chromophore density and enhanced molecular orientation. The device features an electro-optic coefficient of r(33) approximate to 180 pm V-1 and can be operated at data rates of up to 40 Gbit s(-1).