Integratable electro-optic modulator based on a polymer-embedded silicon racetrack resonator with high electro-optic wavelength tuning

Electro-optic (EO) modulators based on polymer-embedded silicon racetrack resonators (EOM-PSRR) are investigated. To obtain the single-mode propagation condition, the mode and transmission characteristics of the polymer-embedded silicon waveguide are simulated by the finite element method (FEM). By adding a static bias voltage, the EO modulation performances of EOM-PSRR embedded with lithium niobate (LiNbO3), EO polymer (AJ309), and hybrid EO polymer/TiO2 material (HEOT) are studied. The results show that the EOM-PSRR embedded with LiNbO3 achieves a high modulation depth (MD) of similar to 27.6 dB with a low EO wavelength tuning (similar to EO) of 10 pm/V. However, the EOM-PSRR embedded with HEOT has a high similar to EO of 100 pm/V but a low MD of similar to 6.2 dB with an extinction ratio of similar to 5.2 dB. The EOM-PSRR has potential application prospects in optical communication, optical signal processing, and optical network links. It can be produced as an optical frequency comb generator in a dense wavelength division multiplexing system, an EO frequency shifter for laser beams, an optical soliton former, and a photon time-delay device in a phased array radar. (c) 2022 Optica Publishing Group