III-V/Si semiconductorinsulator-semiconductor (SIS) ring modulators optimized for O-band optical interconnects.

20260322_pub

Abstract

We present a comparative simulation study of a silicon (Si)-based and a III-V/Si hybrid semiconductor-insulatorsemiconductor (SIS) ring modulator for O-band applications. This work explores the synergistic integration of the carrier-accumulation SIS architecture with a hybrid ring platform, a combination aimed at fully exploiting the enhanced plasma dispersion effect and lower optical loss of III-V compounds. The proposed III-V/Si SIS modulator achieves a 5 dB improvement in transmission penalty (TP), lowering it from 12 dB to 7 dB at 50 GHz, compared to its Si-based counterpart. We systematically optimized top-layer thickness, insulator thickness, as well as carrier concentration by TCAD and optical mode simulations. Results show improved modulation efficiency, reduced drive voltage, and enhanced bandwidth. These findings suggest a route to compact, low-power, and high-speed modulators for next-generation co-packaged optics and WDM interconnects.
[Link to Journal website (Optics Communications)]

Congratulations, Jonggeon!