학술논문

Surface-Normal Ge/SiGe Asymmetric Fabry–Perot Optical Modulators Fabricated on Silicon Substrates
Document Type
Periodical
Source
Journal of Lightwave Technology J. Lightwave Technol. Lightwave Technology, Journal of. 31(24):3995-4003 Dec, 2013
Subject
Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies
Photonics and Electrooptics
Silicon germanium
Absorption
Modulation
Mirrors
Cavity resonators
Silicon
Epitaxial growth
Integrated optoelectronics
optical interconnections
optical modulation
Language
ISSN
0733-8724
1558-2213
Abstract
We demonstrate the first vertical-incidence Ge/SiGe quantum well reflection modulators fabricated entirely on standard silicon substrates. These modulators could help enable massively parallel, free-space optical interconnects to silicon chips. An asymmetric Fabry–Perot resonant cavity is formed around the quantum well region by alkaline etching the backside of the Si substrate to leave suspended SiGe membranes, upon which high-index-contrast Bragg mirrors are deposited. Electroabsorption and electrorefraction both contribute to the reflectance modulation. The devices exhibit greater than 10 dB extinction ratio with low insertion loss of 1.3 dB. High-speed modulation with a 3 dB bandwidth of 4 GHz is demonstrated. The moderate-Q cavity ( ${\bf Q \sim 600}$ ) yields an operating bandwidth of more than 1 nm and permits operation without active thermal stabilization.