Alireza Samani

Focusing-curved subwavelength grating couplers for ultra-broadband silicon photonics optical interfaces

We report on the design and characterization of focusing-curved subwavelength grating couplers for ultra-broadband silicon photonics optical interfaces. With implementation of waveguide dispersion engineered subwavelength structures, an ultra-wide 1-dB bandwidth of over 100 nm (largest reported to date) near 1550 nm is experimentally achieved for transverse-electric polarized light. By tapering the subwavelength structures, back reflection is effectively suppressed and grating coupling efficiency is increased to -4.7 dB. A compact device footprint of 40 µm × 20 µm is realized by curving the gratings in a focusing scheme.

Design, analysis, and transmission system performance of a 41 GHz silicon photonic modulator

The design and characterization of a slow-wave series push-pull traveling wave silicon photonic modulator is presented. At 2 V and 4 V reverse bias, the measured -3 dB electro-optic bandwidth of the modulator with an active length of 4 mm are 38 GHz and 41 GHz, respectively. Open eye diagrams are observed up to bitrates of 60 Gbps without any form of signal processing, and up to 70 Gbps with passive signal processing to compensate for the test equipment. With the use of multi-level amplitude modulation formats and digital-signal-processing, the modulator is shown to operate below a hard-decision forward error-correction threshold of 3.8×10-3 at bitrates up to 112 Gbps over 2 km of single mode optical fiber using PAM-4, and over 5 km of optical fiber with PAM-8. Energy consumed solely by the modulator is also estimated for different modulation cases.

A Low-Voltage 35-GHz Silicon Photonic Modulator-Enabled 112-Gb/s Transmission System

We present a silicon photonic traveling-wave Mach-Zehnder modulator operating near 1550 nm with a 3-dB bandwidth of 35 GHz. A detailed analysis of travelingwave electrode impedance, microwave loss, and phase velocity is presented. Small-and large-signal characterization of the device validates the design methodology. We further investigate the performance of the device in a short-reach transmission system. We report a successful 112-Gb/s transmission of four-level pulse amplitude modulation over 5 km of SMF using 2.2 Vp_p drive voltage. Digital signal processing is applied at the transmitter and receiver. 56-GBaud PAM-4 and 64-Gb/s PAM-2 transmission is demonstrated below a pre-FEC hard decision threshold of 4.4 x 10-3.

Silicon Photonic Segmented Modulator-Based Electro-Optic DAC for 100 Gb/s PAM-4 Generation

We report on the design and characterization of a silicon-on-insulator traveling-wave multi-electrode Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM). The 2-bit electro-optic (EO) digital-to-analog converter is formed by dividing a series push-pull MZM into two segments, one for each bit. The EO bandwidth of the longer segment of the MZM is measured to be 48 GHz at 0 V reverse bias. We operate the device at speeds up to 50 GBd to create a four-level pulse amplitude modulation signal, and thus generating 100 Gb/s on a single wavelength without signal processing at the transmitter or the receiver. The pre-forward error correction (FEC) bit error rate is estimated to be lower than the hard-decision FEC threshold of 3.8 × 10-3 over 1 km of standard single-mode fiber, and thus leading to error-free transmission at 100 Gb/s.

Digital Signal Processing for Dual-Polarization Intensity and Interpolarization Phase Modulation Formats Using Stokes Detection

We study and compare two digital signal processing (DSP) approaches to recover the intensity on two orthogonal polarizations and the interpolarization phase modulation using a Stokes-vector direct detection receiver. We focus on higher order modulation of each of the three degrees of freedom allowed in Stokes-vector detection. 2 bits are encoded on each intensity of the two orthogonal polarizations, and 2 bits are encoded in the phase difference between the two polarizations, giving a 6 bits per symbol format. In this study, we propose a novel three-stage DSP algorithm and we compare this new algorithm with our earlier two-stage algorithm using the following metrics: the computational complexity and the bit error rate (BER) performance. Using the three stage approach, waveform filtering and derotation are applied in series rather than in parallel as was done in the two stage algorithm. We show that the three-stage approach exhibits equal BER performance, while significantly reducing the total required number of real additions and real multiplications. Moreover, tracking the state of polarization using the proposed method is m -times more efficient, where m is the number of taps in the first filtering stage.

High-speed compact silicon photonic Michelson interferometric modulator

We present the detailed analysis and characterization of a silicon Michelson modulator with short 500 μm phase shifters and a low VπLπ of 0.72 V-cm under reverse bias. We investigate optical modulation of reverse biased p-n and forward biased p-i-n junctions. We demonstrate for the first time that error-free operation up to 40 Gbps is possible with lumped silicon interferometric modulators. For reverse bias operation, we show that even greater bandwidth can be obtained with lower impedance drivers. Forward bias operation with pre-emphasized signals is shown to have clean eye diagrams up to 40 Gbps, however, error counting reveals a strong dependence on test patterns and that error-free operation is achievable for short pattern lengths.

A Silicon Photonic PAM-4 Modulator Based on Dual-Parallel Mach–Zehnder Interferometers

We present a silicon photonic dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) operating near 1550 nm used for four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4). The differential and integral nonlinearities of the device are investigated. A driving scheme and a biasing method that improves the linearity and PAM operation of the device are presented. The measured second harmonic distortion and two-tone, third-order intermodulation spurious-free dynamic range are 75 dB · Hz1/2 and 86 dB · Hz3/2, respectively. We further investigate the performance of the device in a short-reach transmission system. We report a successful 50-Gbaud single-wavelength transmission of PAM-4 over 2 km of single-mode fiber (SMF) below hard decision pre forward error correction (pre-FEC) threshold of 4.4 × 10-3.

Experimental parametric study of 128 Gb/s PAM-4 transmission system using a multi-electrode silicon photonic Mach Zehnder modulator

We present an experimental study and analysis of a travelling wave series push-pull silicon photonic multi-electrode Mach-Zehnder modulator (ME-MZM) and compare its performance with a single-electrode travelling wave Mach-Zehnder modulator (TWMZM). Utilizing the functionality of the ME-MZM structure plus digital-signal-processing, we report: 1) the C-band transmission of 84 Gb/s OOK modulated data below the KP4 forward error correction threshold with 2 Vpp drive voltage over a distance of 2 km; 2) the transmission of a 128 Gb/s optical 4-level pulse amplitude modulated signal over 1 km of fiber; and 3) the generation of a 168 Gb/s PAM-4 signal using two electrical OOK signals. By comparing the transmission system performance measurements for the ME-MZM with measurements performed using a similar series push-pull TWMZM, we show that the ME-MZM provides a clear advantage in achieving higher baud PAM-4 generation and transmission compared to a TWMZM.

High-speed low-chirp PAM-4 transmission based on push-pull silicon photonic microring modulators

We report a silicon photonic modulator based on the use of dual parallel microring modulators (MRMs) inserted in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). It is operated in a push-pull configuration for low-chirp transmission at approximately 1550 nm. The chirp parameters of the device are measured using 10 Gb/s on-off keying (OOK) transmission over 20 km of standard single mode fiber (SSMF), and they are less than 0.01, showing the low-chirp characteristic of the modulator. We further demonstrate four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) transmission at 92 Gb/s over 1 km of SSMF and at 40 Gb/s over 20 km of SSMF. The measured bit error rates (BERs) are below the hard-decision (HD) forward error correction (FEC) threshold of 3.8 × 10-3.

Silicon Photonic Ring-Assisted MZI for 50 Gb/s DAC-Less and DSP-Free PAM-4 Transmission

We present the design and characterization of a silicon photonic ring-assisted Mach–Zehnder interferometer for four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) short-reach transmission without the use of digital-to-analog converter (DAC) or digital signal processing (DSP). The PAM-4 optical signals are generated by driving two microring modulators with independent 2-level radio frequency signals. The device is operated at 25 Gbaud and the PAM-4 optical signals are transmitted over 2 km of standard single mode fiber. The bit error rate is estimated to be lower than the hard-decision forward error correction threshold of