Ultra-Low Index-Contrast Polymeric Photonic Crystal Nanobeam Electro-Optic Modulator
A novel nanocavity-based polymer-on-insulator (POI) electro-optic modulator (EOM) is proposed. It consists of a polymeric photonic-crystal nanobeam cavity (PCNC) with ultra-low index-contrast (<italic>n<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\text{cavity}}$</tex-...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IEEE
2020-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Photonics Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9091822/ |
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| Summary: | A novel nanocavity-based polymer-on-insulator (POI) electro-optic modulator (EOM) is proposed. It consists of a polymeric photonic-crystal nanobeam cavity (PCNC) with ultra-low index-contrast (<italic>n<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\text{cavity}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>/n<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{bg}$</tex-math></inline-formula></italic> = 1.17). Based on three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, the PCNC design and optimization are investigated theoretically. A high quality-factor (<italic>Q</italic>) of 3.4<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\,\times\, 10^4$</tex-math></inline-formula> and small mode-volume of 22.8 <italic><inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${({\lambda }/n_{SEO}})^{3}$</tex-math></inline-formula></italic> can be achieved. In order to judge the efficiency of the cavity design for electro-optic (EO) modulation, the optical modes and the electric field distribution are computed using an electromagnetic finite-element solver. Benefiting from the fast and strong EO effect in polymers, the modulator shows an EO modulation efficiency of up to 16 pm/V, which is over an order of magnitude higher than that in lithium niobate (LN) PCNCs. Moreover, the device is only 80 <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu$</tex-math></inline-formula>m in length, leading to a voltage-length product <italic><inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{\pi }$</tex-math></inline-formula> × L</italic> = 0.05 V<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\cdot$</tex-math></inline-formula>cm, which is much smaller than those of Mach-Zehnder modulators. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first on-chip POI-based EOM that features both ultra-compact size and high modulation efficiency. Hence, it is potentially an ideal platform for applications in optical communications, electric-field sensing, and tunable photonic circuits. |
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| ISSN: | 1943-0655 |