Compact low driving voltage (<400 mVpp) electro-absorption modulator laterally integrated with VCSEL

An ultra-compact (8 μm long) electro-absorption modulator is presented which is laterally integrated with a 980 nm InGaAs vertical cavity surface emitting laser incorporating a bow-tie-shaped oxide aperture. A low driving voltage operation below 400 mV_pp for a dynamic extinction ratio of 6 dB and a large signal modulation of up to 25 Gbit/s is demonstrated. The static extinction ratio of over 6 dB can be obtained by applying an extremely low voltage of -200 mV.