Advancements in high-speed silicon photonic microring modulators (Conference Presentation)

We present our latest advancements in silicon photonic microring modulators, optimized for high-speed performance with reduced drive voltage. Our single-chip silicon photonic transmitter integrates a laser with a high-speed microring modulator, achieving 256Gb/s PAM4 open eye diagrams with a transmitter penalty (TDECQ) of 1.5 dB at a drive voltage of 1.8 Vpp. By optimizing the junction, we improved phase efficiency by 20%, enabling an extinction ratio of 4.2 dB and a TDECQ of 3.7 dB at a reduced drive voltage of 1.4Vpp for 224Gb/s PAM4 modulation. These advancements demonstrate the potential of our efficient modulator technology for high-bandwidth, power-efficient optical I/O systems.