INVESTIGATION OF THE DEPLETION-MODULATION CHARACTERISTICS OF LOW-POWER 10.6-MU-M IR-MODULATORS BASED ON THE RESONANT PLASMA EFFECT

Achieving low-power dissipation in modulators for 10.6 mu m is a chall enge, In this letter, we confirm the previously predicted modulation c haracteristics of the integrated mirror optical switch based on the re sonant plasma effect in highly doped semiconductors, At 12 V and 14 mW , an external modulation depth of 18% was measured. The proposed desig n limited the clocking frequency to a few megahertz, The achieved powe r dissipation is about three orders of magnitude less than the commerc ially available electrooptical modulators operating at these wavelengt hs.