High-efficiency silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator with vertical PN junction based on fabrication-friendly strip-loaded waveguide

We demonstrate a vertical p-n junction silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator constructed with hydrogenated amorphous silicon strip-loaded waveguides on a flat SOI platform. A 3-mm-long phase shifter shows 0.80- to 1.86-Vcm modulation efficiency, 7.3- to 16.9-dBV loss-efficiency product, 3-dB bandwidth of 17 GHz, and 25-Gb/s operation.