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