Title :
Phase-engineered III-V MQW Mach-Zehnder modulators
Author :
Yu, Jun ; Rolland, Claude ; Yevick, David ; Somani, Azmina ; Bradshaw, Scott
Author_Institution :
Adv. Technol. Lab., Nortel Technol., Ottawa, Ont., Canada
Abstract :
We have optimized the negative frequency chirp while maintaining a high extinction ratio in an InP-InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well (MQW) Mach-Zehnder modulator. Our procedure is to elongate one modulator arm such that a /spl pi/ phase shift is produced at zero bias relative to the opposing arm. The resulting de extinction ratio is improved to /spl ap/16 dB from 10 dB relative to a symmetric design. The frequency chirp of the modulator at the rising edge is about -3 GHz enabling excellent transmission performance over a 95 km of conventional fiber.
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; Mach-Zehnder interferometers; chirp modulation; electro-optical modulation; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; indium compounds; optical communication equipment; optimisation; semiconductor quantum wells; /spl pi/ phase shift; 95 km; InP-InGaAsP; InP-InGaAsP MQW Mach-Zehnder modulator; conventional fiber; extinction ratio; frequency chirp; high extinction ratio; modulator arm; multiple-quantum-well; negative frequency chirp optimisation; opposing arm; phase-engineered III-V MQW Mach-Zehnder modulators; rising edge; symmetric design; transmission performance; zero bias; Arm; Chirp modulation; Frequency; III-V semiconductor materials; Nonlinear optics; Optical filters; Optical modulation; Phase modulation; Quantum well devices; Voltage;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
