A 128 Gb/s PAM4 Silicon Microring Modulator With Integrated Thermo-Optic Resonance Tuning

Abstract

We report the first demonstration of a silicon photonic microring modulator with modulation data rate up to 128 Gb/s (64 Gbaud PAM4). The microring modulator exhibits an electro-optic phase efficiency of V <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">π</sub> · L = 0.52 V·cm, an electro-optic bandwidth of 50 GHz, and a measured transmitter dispersion eye closure quaternary of 3.0 dB at this data rate. In addition, the resonant wavelength of the microring modulator can be tuned across a full free spectral range using an integrated heater with a thermo-optic phase efficiency of 19.5 mW/π-phase shift.