We report different experimental results showing the large potential of Ge/SiGe quantum well structures as a promising solution forlow power consumption and large bandwidth optical modulators in silicon photonics technology. First, high speed operation of such a Ge/SiGe multiple quantum well (MQW) electro-absorption modulator is reported, with 23 GHz bandwidth demonstrated from a 3 μm wide and 90 μm long Ge/SiGe MQW waveguide. Then the flexibility to shift the absorption band edge from 1.42 to 1.3 μm is illustrated by strain engineering of the Ge wells. Finally electrorefraction by Quantum Confined Stark Effect (QCSE) is demonstrated, opening the route towards phase modulators based on Ge/SiGe MQWs.

Date Published: 7 May 2013
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 8781, Integrated Optics: Physics and Simulations, 87810Y (7 May 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2019068

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8781:
Integrated Optics: Physics and Simulations
Pavel Cheben; Jiří Čtyroký; Iñigo Molina-Fernandez, Editor(s)