Enhanced Mach Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) Optical Modulator On Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) Using Tapered Structure For Improved Performance In Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)

Silicon photonic is a new and potential field to be explored. The possibility of integrating various optical component in planar promotes cost reduction with competitive performance as compared to other expensive materials such as lithium niobate, galium arsenide and indium phosphide. On top of that, the fabrication techniques are similar to the existing CMOS technique thus minimizing the fabrication cost. The carrier injection optical modulator is capable of demonstrating high extinction ratio and high change of refractive index. These characteristics are crucial in optical telecommunication network such as Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM). This research proposes a new design of carrier injection MZI optical modulator by introducing tapered structure on Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI). The new design is capable in enhancing the performance of the modulator in terms of its extinction ratio, insertion loss and modulation efficiency. The analytical modelling in this research allows an analysis on the correlation of the change of refractive index with the extinction ratio of the optical modulator to be performed. The optimization technique is applied in order to select the parameter values that exhibits the most optimum performance. The systematic approach used in this research saves time and cost prior to fabrication process.