ALL-SILICON FABRY-PEROT MODULATOR BASED ON THE THERMOOPTIC EFFECT

The operation at 1.5 mum of a silicon Fabry-Perot optical modulator is reported. The electrically driven device, which uses the thermo-optic effect to achieve as much as a 55% intensity modulation depth, has be en realized by means of standard silicon microelectronic technology. T his demonstrates that this new type of optical modulator can early be integrated with electronic circuits. An accurate three-dimensional the rmal analysis of the device has permitted the setup of a reliable nume rical code aimed at the design of optimized integrated versions of it. The simulation outputs therefore predict operation frequencies of hun dreds of kilohertz, remarkably superior to those previously reported i n thermo-optic-effect-based modulators