Silicon and Polymer Hybrid Waveguide Modulator for O-Band Transmitters

Electro-optic (EO) polymer modulators have been extensively studied as ultra-high-speed transmitter devices due to their high EO coefficient and effective velocity matching between optical and microwave frequencies. However, material absorption losses in the EO polymer restrict the device's use in longer wavelength regions, such as the C-band. In this paper, we have developed an EO polymer capable of transmitting light at 1310 nm, making it suitable for O-band transmitter applications. Our modulator features a Si slot phase shifter structure embedded with the EO polymer. The measured Vπ for the modulator, with a phase shifter length of 1.5 mm, was 1.9 V. We successfully demonstrated high-speed transmission at 80 Gbit/s using OOK.