Rebecca K. Schaevitz

Optical modulator on silicon employing germanium quantum wells

We demonstrate an electroabsorption modulator on a silicon substrate based on the quantum confined Stark effect in strained germanium quantum wells with silicon-germanium barriers. The peak contrast ratio is 7.3 dB at 1457 nm for a 10 V swing, and exceeds 3 dB from 1441 nm to 1461 nm. The novel side-entry structure employs an asymmetric Fabry-Perot resonator at oblique incidence. Unlike waveguide modulators, the design is insensitive to positional misalignment, maintaining > 3 dB contrast while translating the incident beam 87 mum and 460 mum in orthogonal directions. Since the optical ports are on the substrate edges, the wafer top and bottom are left free for electrical interconnections and thermal management.

Ge/SiGe Quantum Well Waveguide Modulator Monolithically Integrated With SOI Waveguides

We present a Ge/SiGe quantum well QCSE waveguide modulator that is monolithically integrated with SOI waveguides. The integrated device shows 3.2 dB contrast ratio with 1 V swing at 7.0 Gbps.

Material Properties of Si-Ge/Ge Quantum Wells

Germanium (Ge) and silicon-germanium (Si-Ge) have the potential to integrate optics with Si IC technology. The quantum-confined Stark effect, a strong electroabsorption mechanism often observed in III-V quantum wells (QWs), has been demonstrated in Si-Ge/Ge QWs, allowing optoelectronic modulators in such group IV materials. Here, based on photocurrent electroabsorption experiments on different samples and fitting of the resulting allowed and nominally forbidden transitions, we propose more accurate values for key parameters such as effective masses and band offsets that are required for device design. Tunneling resonance modeling including conduction band nonparabolicity was used to fit the results with good consistency between the experiments and the fitted transitions.

Ge–SiGe Quantum-Well Waveguide Photodetectors on Silicon for the Near-Infrared

We demonstrate near-infrared waveguide photodetectors using Ge-SiGe quantum wells epitaxially grown on a silicon substrate. The diodes exhibit a low dark current of 17.9 mA/cm2 at 5-V reverse bias. The photodetectors are designed to work optimally at 1480 nm, where the external responsivity is 170 mA/W, which is mainly limited by the fiber-to-waveguide coupling loss. The 1480-nm wavelength matches the optimum wavelength for quantum-well electroabsorption modulators built on the same epitaxy, but these photodetectors also exhibit performance comparable to the demonstrated Ge-based detectors at longer wavelengths. At 1530 nm, we see open eye diagrams at 2.5-Gb/s operation and the external responsivity is as high as 66 mA/W. The technology is potentially integrable with the standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process and offers an efficient solution for on-chip optical interconnects.

Simple Electroabsorption Calculator for Designing 1310 nm and 1550 nm Modulators Using Germanium Quantum Wells

With germanium showing significant promise in the design of electroabsorption modulators for full complementary metal oxide semiconductor integration, we present a simple electroabsorption calculator for Ge/SiGe quantum wells. To simulate the quantum-confined Stark effect electroabsorption profile, this simple quantum well electroabsorption calculator (SQWEAC) uses the tunneling resonance method, 2-D Sommerfeld enhancement, the variational method and an indirect absorption model. SQWEAC simulations are compared with experimental data to validate the model before presenting optoelectronic modulator designs for the important communication bands of 1310 nm and 1550 nm. These designs predict operation with very low energy per bit ( <; 30×fJ/bit).

Indirect absorption in germanium quantum wells

Germanium has become a promising material for creating CMOS-compatible optoelectronic devices, such as modulators and detectors employing the Franz-Keldysh effect (FKE) or the quantum-confined Stark effect(QCSE), which meet strict energy and density requirements for future interconnects. To improve Ge-based modulator design, it is important to understand the contributions to the insertion loss (IL). With indirect absorption being the primary component of IL, we have experimentally determined the strength of this loss and compared it with theoretical models. For the first time, we have used the more sensitive photocurrent measurements for determining the effective absorption coefficient in our Ge/SiGe quantum well material employing QCSE. This measurement technique enables measurement of the absorption coefficient over four orders of magnitude. We find good agreement between our thin Gequantum wells and the bulk material parameters and theoretical models. Similar to bulk Ge, we find that the 27.7 meV LA phonon is dominant in these quantum confined structures and that the electroabsorption profile can be predicted using the model presented by Frova, Phys. Rev., 145 (1966).

Ge/SiGe asymmetric Fabry-Perot quantum well electroabsorption modulators

We demonstrate vertical-incidence electroabsorption modulators for free-space optical interconnects. The devices operate via the quantum-confined Stark effect in Ge/SiGe quantum wells grown on silicon substrates by reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition. The strong electroabsorption contrast enables use of a moderate-Q asymmetric Fabry-Perot resonant cavity, formed using a film transfer process, which allows for operation over a wide optical bandwidth without thermal tuning. Extinction ratios of 3.4 dB and 2.5 dB are obtained for 3 V and 1.5 V drive swings, respectively, with insertion loss less than 4.5 dB. For 60 ?m diameter devices, large signal modulation is demonstrated at 2 Gbps, and a 3 dB modulation bandwidth of 3.5 GHz is observed. These devices show promise for high-speed, low-energy operation given further miniaturization.

A Ge/SiGe quantum well waveguide modulator monolithically integrated with SOI waveguides

We report a Ge/SiGe quantum well waveguide electroabsorption modulator that is monolithically integrated with silicon-on-insulator waveguides. The active quantum well section is selectively grown on a silicon-on-insulator substrate and has a footprint of 8 . The integrated device demonstrates more than 3.2-dB contrast ratio with 1-V direct voltage swing at 3.5 GHz. We also show the potential of this device to operate in the telecommunication C-band at room temperature.

Surface-Normal Ge/SiGe Asymmetric Fabry–Perot Optical Modulators Fabricated on Silicon Substrates

We demonstrate the first vertical-incidence Ge/SiGe quantum well reflection modulators fabricated entirely on standard silicon substrates. These modulators could help enable massively parallel, free-space optical interconnects to silicon chips. An asymmetric Fabry-Perot resonant cavity is formed around the quantum well region by alkaline etching the backside of the Si substrate to leave suspended SiGe membranes, upon which high-index-contrast Bragg mirrors are deposited. Electroabsorption and electrorefraction both contribute to the reflectance modulation. The devices exhibit greater than 10 dB extinction ratio with low insertion loss of 1.3 dB. High-speed modulation with a 3 dB bandwidth of 4 GHz is demonstrated. The moderate-Q cavity (Q ~ 600) yields an operating bandwidth of more than 1 nm and permits operation without active thermal stabilization.

Si-Ge surface-normal asymmetric Fabry-Perot quantum-confined stark effect electroabsorption modulator

The strong electroabsorption modulation possible in Ge/SiGe quantum wells promises efficient, CMOS-compatible integrated optical modulators. Using an asymmetric Fabry-Perot design, we demonstrate the first surface-normal semiconductor modulator structure grown on silicon.