dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaUltra-low voltage resonant tunnelling diode electroabsorption modulator
| Authors | J. M. L. Figueiredo, C. N. Ironside, C. R. Stanley |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0503098 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0503098 |
| Journal | Journal Modern Optics, 49, 5, pp. 939 - 945 (Abri 2002). |
Abstract
Embedding a double barrier resonant tunnelling diode (RTD) in an unipolar InGaAlAs optical waveguide gives rise to a very low driving voltage electroabsorption modulator (EAM) at optical wavelengths around 1550 nm. The presence of the RTD within the waveguide core introduces high non-linearity and negative differential resistance in the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic of the waveguide. This makes the electric field distribution across the waveguide core strongly dependent on the bias voltage: when the current decreases from the peak to the valley there is an increase of the electric field across the depleted core. The electric field enhancement in the core-depleted layer causes the Franz-Keldysh absorption band-edge to red shift, which is responsible for the electroabsorption effect. High frequency ac signals as low as 100 mV can induce electric field high speed switching, producing substantial light modulation (up to 15 dB) at photon energies slightly lower than the waveguide core band-gap energy. The key difference between this device and conventional p-i-n EAMs is that the tunnelling characteristics of the RTD are employed to switch the electric field across the core depleted region; the RTDEAM has in essence an integrated electronic amplifier and therefore requires considerably less switching power.
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"abstract": "Embedding a double barrier resonant tunnelling diode (RTD) in an unipolar\nInGaAlAs optical waveguide gives rise to a very low driving voltage\nelectroabsorption modulator (EAM) at optical wavelengths around 1550 nm. The\npresence of the RTD within the waveguide core introduces high non-linearity and\nnegative differential resistance in the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic of\nthe waveguide. This makes the electric field distribution across the waveguide\ncore strongly dependent on the bias voltage: when the current decreases from\nthe peak to the valley there is an increase of the electric field across the\ndepleted core. The electric field enhancement in the core-depleted layer causes\nthe Franz-Keldysh absorption band-edge to red shift, which is responsible for\nthe electroabsorption effect. High frequency ac signals as low as 100 mV can\ninduce electric field high speed switching, producing substantial light\nmodulation (up to 15 dB) at photon energies slightly lower than the waveguide\ncore band-gap energy. The key difference between this device and conventional\np-i-n EAMs is that the tunnelling characteristics of the RTD are employed to\nswitch the electric field across the core depleted region; the RTDEAM has in\nessence an integrated electronic amplifier and therefore requires considerably\nless switching power.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0503098",
"authors": [
"J. M. L. Figueiredo",
"C. N. Ironside",
"C. R. Stanley"
],
"categories": [
"physics.optics",
"physics.ins-det"
],
"journal_ref": "Journal Modern Optics, 49, 5, pp. 939 - 945 (Abri 2002).",
"title": "Ultra-low voltage resonant tunnelling diode electroabsorption modulator",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0503098"
},
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