High-Speed, Low-Driving-Voltage Dual-Drive InP-Based Mach-Zehnder Modulator

Nobuhiro KIKUCHI
Ken TSUZUKI
Takeshi KUROSAKI
Yasuo SHIBATA
Hiroshi YASAKA

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics   Vol.E92-C    No.2    pp.205-211
Publication Date: 2009/02/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1353
DOI: 10.1587/transele.E92.C.205
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: Special Section INVITED PAPER (Special Section on Recent Advances in Integrated Photonic Devices)
Category: 
Keyword: 
Mach-Zehnder modulator,  n-i-n structure,  InP,  

Full Text: FreePDF
Summary: 
We present a dual traveling-wave electrode InP-based Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator with an n-i-n waveguide structure. An electrical input/output interface placed on one side of the chip helps us to drive the modulator in a push-pull configuration. This configuration provides the modulator with great advantages such as reduced driving voltage amplitude, chirp-free operation, and the ability to support advanced modulation formats. The fabricated modulator exhibits good performance. A 40 Gb/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signal is successfully generated with a low driving of 1.3 Vpp. In addition, a 10-Gb/s optical duobinary (DB) signal is successfully generated and transmitted over a 240-km single-mode fiber (SMF). We also developed a wavelength tunable transmitter hybrid integrated with a modulator with a wavelength tunable laser. Full C-band 10-Gb/s operation and a 100-km SMF transmission with a low power penalty are confirmed.