Electroabsorption optical modulator

Patent · 02 February 2021

OSTI ID:1805467

Wood, Michael; Campione, Salvatore; Keeler, Gordon Arthur; Geib, Kent M.; Shank, Joshua; Ihlefeld, Jon; Serkland, Darwin K.; Luk, Ting S.

An electroabsorption modulator that operates based on electroabsorption of a surface plasmon polariton mode is improved by various structural changes and/or selection of different materials. For example, at least a portion of the waveguide may be made to be conductive, e.g., by doping. Also, layers that make up the modulator structure may be placed along sides of waveguides in addition to or instead of simply on the top thereof. High permittivity gate dielectric materials may be employed. Also, materials other than ITO may be employed as a transparent conductor. Such an improved plasmonic electroabsorption modulator can be fabricated using standard semiconductor processing techniques and may be integrated with standard photonic integrated circuits, including silicon photonics and compound semiconductor-based platforms. Advantageously, high-speed, low-voltage operation over a wide spectrum of wavelengths may be achieved.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: NA0003525
• Assignee: National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC (Albuquerque, NM)
• Patent Number(s): 10,908,438
• Application Number: 15/909,767
• OSTI ID: 1805467
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English