Over-67-GHz-Bandwidth Membrane InGaAlAs Electro-Absorption Modulator Integrated With DFB Laser on Si Platform

Abstract

We fabricate a membrane InGaAlAs electro-absorption modulator (EAM) integrated with a distributed feedback (DFB) laser combining direct wafer bonding and epitaxial regrowth of InP-based layers on a silicon-on-insulator wafer. Heterogeneous integration of an InP-based multiple-quantum-well (MQW) layer into the Si photonics simplifies the integration of the O-band EAMs and laser diodes (LDs). EAMs and LDs can be fabricated using the same MQW layer because of the wide operating range and the direct bandgap of the MQWs. A compact and high-speed lumped-electrode EAM can be made because the membrane lateral p-i-n diode structure has low capacitance and a large optical confinement factor. The effective-refractive-index matching between the membrane InP and Si layers enables the DFB laser to be fabricated with a low-loss supermode waveguide whose MQW core was optically coupled to the Si core. The fabricated 100-μm-long membrane EAM has a high modulation efficiency of about 3 dB/V at 1260 nm and E-O bandwidth of over 67 GHz even without a 50-ohm termination. The EAM-integrated DFB laser has a fiber coupled output power of about -2 dBm and clear eye openings with an extinction ratio of 3.8 and 3.2 dB for 100- and 112-Gbit/s non-return-to-zero signals, respectively.