Ultra-low V pp and high-modulation-depth InP-based electro–optic microring modulator

A modulator is an essential building block in the integrated photonics, connecting the electrical with optical signals. The microring modulator gains much attention because of the small footprint, low drive voltage and high extinction ratio. An ultra-low Vpp and high-modulation-depth indium phosphide-based racetrack microring modulator is demonstrated in this paper. The proposed device mainly comprises one racetrack microring, incorporating a semiconductor amplifier, and coupling with a bus waveguide through a multimode interference coupler. Traveling wave electrodes are employed to supply bidirectional bias ports, terminating with a 50-Ω impedance. The on/off extinction ratio of the microring reaches 43.3 dB due to the delicately tuning of the gain. An 11 mV Vpp, a maximum 42.5 dB modulation depth and a 6.6 GHz bandwidth are realized, respectively. This proposed microring modulator could enrich the functionalities and designability of the fundamental integrated devices.