Lowering the energy consumption in silicon photonic devices and systems [Invited]

We review current silicon photonic devices and their performance in connection with energy consumption. Four critical issues are identified to lower energy consumption in devices and systems: reducing the influence of the thermo-optic effect, increasing the wall-plug efficiency of lasers on silicon, optimizing energy performance of modulators, and enhancing the sensitivity of photodetectors. Major conclusions are (1) Mach-Zehnder interferometer-based devices can achieve athermal performance without any extra energy consumption while microrings do not have an efficient passive athermal solution; (2) while direct bonded III-V-based Si lasers can meet system power requirement for now, hetero-epitaxial grown III-V quantum dot lasers are competitive and may be a better option for the future; (3) resonant modulators, especially coupling modulators, are promising for low-energy consumption operation even when the power to stabilize their operation is included; (4) benefiting from high sensitivity and low cost, Ge/Si avalanche photodiode is the most promising photodetector and can be used to effectively reduce the optical link power budget. These analyses and solutions will contribute to further lowering energy consumption to meet aggressive energy demands in future systems. (C) 2015 Chinese Laser Press