High-speed and compact silicon modulator based on a racetrack resonator with a 1 V drive voltage

Fast, compact, and power-efficient silicon microcavity electro-optic modulators are expected to be critical components for chip-level optical interconnects. It is highly desirable that these modulators can be driven by voltage swings of 1 V or less to reduce power dissipation and make them compatible with voltage supply levels associated with current and future complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology nodes. Here, we present a silicon racetrack resonator modulator that achieves over 8 dB modulation depth at 12.5 Gbps with a 1 V swing. In addition, the use of a racetrack resonator geometry relaxes the tight lithography resolution requirements typically associated with microring resonators and enhances the ability to use common lithographic optical techniques for their fabrication. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America