CMOS compatible Si-Ring Assisted Mach-Zehnder Interferometer with Internal Bandwidth Equalization

Abstract: We demonstrate, to the best of our knowledge, the first ring-assisted Mach-Zehnder Interferometric (RAMZI) modulator. The RAMZI modulator is manufactured on a complementary oxide metal semiconductor (CMOS) compatible platform and entirely fabricated in a commercial CMOS foundry. 

We demonstrate a 3- dB bandwidth >15 GHz in a silicon-based carrier-depletion modulator with a 2 V-cm V à*L product, which is ~2.5 times smaller than previously reported. In addition, we demonstrate internal bandwidth equalization within the tunable CMOS-compatible RAMZI modulator and discuss the optical carrier and modulation sideband response and relaxation characteristics that lead to this behavior within resonant modulators.

2008 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (060.2330) Fiber optics communications; (130.3120) Integrated optics devices