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The exponential demand for bandwidth in data centers is on high alert with the increase in data traffic. In this scenario, the design of optical modulators is crucial for the continuous evolution of communication systems. For data center interconnect (DCI) applications, this mean that modulators should offer high bandwidth and low optical loss. In addition, devices must operate with low power consumption and be compatible with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) processes for low-cost and large-scale manufacturing. These facts show the importance of advancement in Silicon (Si) modulators solutions, since they have the potential to fulfill all these requirements. However, designing a device that meets all these requirements at the same time is still challenging, because there are several trade-offs problems involved for which different Silicon modulators types are not yet able to solve. In this context, this paper reviews the challenges in Silicon photonics (SiPh) modulators for data center interconnect applications.

This work presents a capacitive modulator design and modeling of a new waveguide architecture using silicon and poly-si technologies. We use a methodology involving the entire lumped-type modulator design process, from the optical design to the small-signal RF analysis. By means of geometric and physical parameters adjustments, the trade-offs among several figures of merit are analyzed in this paper. Due to the waveguide configuration, it is shown that the modulator can improve the trade-off between $V_{\pi }$ and bandwidth compared to the state-of-the-art for this kind of device. For instance, the best combinations are $V_{\pi }\simeq$ 1 V @ 20.4 GHz and $V_{\pi }$ = 5.7 V @ $\sim$ 31 GHz, with equivalent optical losses of 3 dB and 1.1 dB, respectively.

This paper presents a capacitive modulator design and modeling using poly-si and silicon technologies. We propose a methodology involving the entire modulator design process, from the optical design, charge distribution calculation and small-signal RF analysis. Thus, in the case of silicon photonics modulators, the paper proposes means to optimize the trade-offs among several figures of merit. It is shown that high bandwidth operation (>30 GHz) can be achieved by sacrificing a little the modulation efficiency. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion