Performance improvement of VO2 and ITO based plasmonic electro-absorption modulators at 1550 nm application wavelength

We have designed two CMOS compatible plasmonic electro-absorption modulators (EAMs) based on vanadium dioxide (VO2) and indium tin oxide (ITO). Their performance matrices have been improved in terms of insertion loss (IL), extinction ratio (ER), and figure of merit (FOM). Rigorous Finite Element Method (FEM) has been used to optimize output parameters based on the input device parameters. The IL, ER, and FOM for both the modulators were 0.651 dB/pm, 5.85 dB/pm, 8.98, respectively, for VO2 based EAM and 0.025 dB/pm, 3.07 dB/pm, 122, respectively, for ITO based EAM. This article can be useful to design a CMOS compatible optical modulator on Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology.

Automated summary

This study presents two CMOS compatible plasmonic electro-absorption modulators based on VO2 and ITO, with improved performance matrices. The rigorous FEM optimization method resulted in better IL, ER, and FOM values for both modulators, making them potentially useful for designing CMOS compatible optical modulators on SOI technology.