Abstract

A high-efficiency Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) using InGaAsP phase shifters and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) using multiple-quantum-well (MQW) are integrated on Si-waveguide circuits. Membrane structure is easy to optically couple to the widely-used 220-nm-thick Si waveguides, because both layers have comparable effective refractive indices. To integrate different bandgap III-V compound semiconductors; InGaAsP-based MQW for SOA and InGaAsP bulk for MZM, we employ epitaxial regrowth on thin-InP layer that is directly bonded on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. Their thicknesses are smaller than the critical thickness (∼430 nm) for epitaxial growth of the InP-based layers bonded on the SOI wafer. This fabrication procedure is beneficial for the wafer-level integration of InP-based devices with different bandgaps on Si-photonic circuits. Furthermore, membrane lateral p-n and p-i-n diode structures improve the modulation efficiency of the MZM and reduce the power consumption of the SOA due to the high optical confinement factor and small active area. The integrated 300-μm-long SOA and MZM with 500-μm-long phase shifters show a fiber-to-fiber lossless operation with the SOA current of only 24 mA at room temperature. The modulation efficiency of the compact MZM is high enough for eye opening with non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signals from 28 to 40 Gbit/s. By using the SOA to amplify the signals modulated by the MZM, the fiber output power of −3.4 dBm was obtained without any significant pattern effect.

Integration of a high-efficiency Mach-Zehnder modulator with a DFB laser using membrane InP-based devices on a Si photonics platform

Tatsurou Hiraki, Takuma Aihara, Takuro Fujii, Koji Takeda, Yoshiho Maeda, Takaaki Kakitsuka, Tai Tsuchizawa, and Shinji Matsuo
Opt. Express 29(2) 2431-2441 (2021)

Membrane InGaAsP Mach-Zehnder modulator with SiN:D waveguides on Si platform

Tatsurou Hiraki, Takuma Aihara, Koji Takeda, Takuro Fujii, Takaaki Kakitsuka, Tai Tsuchizawa, Hiroshi Fukuda, and Shinji Matsuo
Opt. Express 27(13) 18612-18619 (2019)

InGaAsP Mach–Zehnder interferometer optical modulator monolithically integrated with InGaAs driver MOSFET on a III-V CMOS photonics platform

Jin-Kown Park, Shinichi Takagi, and Mitsuru Takenaka
Opt. Express 26(4) 4842-4852 (2018)

Membrane buried-heterostructure DFB laser with an optically coupled III-V/Si waveguide

Takuma Aihara, Tatsurou Hiraki, Koji Takeda, Takuro Fujii, Takaaki Kakitsuka, Tai Tsuchizawa, and Shinji Matsuo
Opt. Express 27(25) 36438-36448 (2019)

Multiwavelength membrane laser array using selective area growth on directly bonded InP on SiO₂/Si

Takuro Fujii, Koji Takeda, Hidetaka Nishi, Nikolaos-Panteleimon Diamantopoulos, Tomonari Sato, Takaaki Kakitsuka, Tai Tsuchizawa, and Shinji Matsuo
Optica 7(7) 838-846 (2020)