Sun Xiaomeng, Zhou Linjie, Li Xinwan, Hong Zehua, Chen Jianping
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, Department of Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Appl Opt. 2011 Jul 10;50(20):3428-34. doi: 10.1364/AO.50.003428.
A plasmonic-hybrid-waveguide-based optical phase modulator is proposed and analyzed. The field enhancement in the low-index high-nonlinear polymer layer provides nanoscale optical confinement and a fast optical modulation speed. At 2.5 V drive voltage, a π phase shift can be obtained for a 13-μm-long plasmonic waveguide. Because of its small capacitance and parasitic resistance, the modulation bandwidth can reach up to 100 GHz with a low power consumption of ∼9 fJ/bit. The plasmonic waveguide is connected to a silicon wire waveguide via an adiabatic taper with a coupling efficiency of ∼91%. The phase modulator can find potential applications in optical telecommunication and interconnects.
