High speed all-silicon optical modulator

Electrorefractive effect is experimentally demonstrated in an all-silicon optical structure. A highly doped Si P+ layer is embedded in the intrinsic region of a PIN diode integrated in a SOI waveguide. Holes are confined at equilibrium around the P+ layer. By applying a reverse bias to the diode, electrical field sweeps the carriers out of the active region. Free carrier concentration variations are responsible for local refractive index variations leading to an effective index variation of the waveguide optical mode and to an optical absorption variation. As a figure of merit, the product VπLπ, determined from the measured effective index variation, is equal to 3.1 V cm. Furthermore, the device performances have theoretically been investigated. Estimations show that VπLπ as small as 1 V cm are feasible using optimized structures. Response times lower than 2 ps are predicted, which gives the possibility to achieve very high-speed modulation. Furthermore, a temperature increases from 300 to 400 K does not change the index variation amplitude, and despite the carrier mobility reduction, response times are still lower than 2 ps.