Electrically tunable silicon plasmonic phase modulators with nano-scale optical confinement

doi:10.1007/s12200-011-0176-3

Front Optoelec Chin

2011, Vol. 4

Issue (4) : 359-363 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-011-0176-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Electrically tunable silicon plasmonic phase modulators with nano-scale optical confinement

Xiaomeng SUN, Linjie ZHOU(

), Xinwan LI, Jingya XIE, Jianping CHEN

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

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Abstract

Electrically tunable silicon (Si) plasmonic phase modulators with nano-scale optical confinement are presented and analyzed in this study. The modulation is realized based on two mechanisms: free carrier plasma dispersion effect in Si and high electro-optic effect in polymer. The phase modulators can be found potential applications in optical telecommunication and interconnect.

Keywords surface plasmons photonic integrated circuits free carrier plasma dispersion effect electro-optic effect

Corresponding Author(s): ZHOU Linjie,Email:ljzhou@sjtu.edu.cn

Issue Date: 05 December 2011

Cite this article:

Xinwan LI,Jingya XIE,Linjie ZHOU, et al. Electrically tunable silicon plasmonic phase modulators with nano-scale optical confinement[J]. Front Optoelec Chin, 2011, 4(4): 359-363.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/10.1007/s12200-011-0176-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/Y2011/V4/I4/359

Fig.1 (a) Schematic of proposed plasmonic phase modulator; (b) and (c) cross-sectional view of plasmonic waveguide based on (b) free carrier plasma dispersion effect in silicon and (c) electro-optic effect in polymer

Fig.2 (a) Simulated electric-field mode pattern of plasmonic waveguide; (b) effective refractive index and propagation loss vs. sidewall oxide width; (c) coupling efficiency vs. taper length; (d) electric-field pattern showing the coupling from silicon waveguide to plasmonic waveguide. Waveguide parameters are set as = 100 nm, = 200 nm, , and = 10 nm

Fig.3 (a)-(c) Three working regimes under properly applied voltages; (d) and (e) free-carrier distribution in silicon waveguide core region with applied voltages of (d) 5 V and (e) -5 V; (f) effective refractive index change vs. applied voltage

Fig.4 Phase shift of a 13-μm-long plasmonic waveguide vs. drive voltage

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