Ultracompact and large-bandwidth silicon modulator in a CMOS-compatible foundry.

ABSTRACT: The exponential growth of global data traffic demands transformative solutions for data centers. While optical interconnects offer a promising pathway to overcome the bandwidth limitation, conventional electro-optic modulators face a bandwidth-footprint trade-off. Here, we demonstrate a silicon modulator by leveraging the slow-light effect in a photonic crystal nanobeam cavity. The proposed modulator exhibits a 110-GHz electro-optic bandwidth with an ultracompact footprint of 10 µm² while enabling precise light manipulation with an 80 pm/V tuning efficiency within a 0.12 µm³ mode volume. We also demonstrate 110-Gbps and 130-Gbps non-return-to-zero signal transmissions with bit error rates less than 3.8 × 10⁻³ and 2 × 10⁻², respectively, while maintaining a power consumption of 5.9 fJ/bit.

SUBMITTER: Zhong H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12852789 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature