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Nanoscale spontaneous light sources are promising alternatives to lasers for high-speed optical communications and interconnections through energy-efficient integrated circuits. Yet, developing the spontaneous light sources faster than lasers is hampered by the detection means (e.g., time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy). Here, by coupling monolayer WSe2 to individual plasmonic nanocavities, we achieved an efficient spontaneous light source with potential ultrafast modulation bandwidth and superior brightness. The ultrafast radiative decay rates can be determined and derived solely from the experimental parameters by combining the coupling strength and the photoluminescence enhancement in a single nanocavity-WSe2 hybrid. As a result, the hybrid light source has a radiative lifetime down to 350 fs, indicating a potential modulation bandwidth up to 440 GHz, which is 10 times of the traditional semiconductor lasers. Furthermore, the quantum yield is enhanced by a factor of over 300-folds up to 20.8% through making full use of the highly confined nanocavity mode. The nanocavity-WSe2 hybrid we built provides a promising approach for constructing high-speed light-emitting devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduced thermal budget is required for back-end-of-line (BEOL) integration of application specific functionality into the multilevel metal stack of a processor "substrate." We report 400 °C BEOL-compatible Ge-on-Si growth (LT Ge) that is epitaxial and single crystalline with a defect density similar to high temperature growth and a small 0.05% tensile strain. Room temperature methanol–iodine passivation is employed pre-growth in lieu of the typical 800 °C oxide removal step. Undoped LT Ge exhibits p-type conductivity initially and n-type conductivity conversion upon annealing. Hall effect measurements following post growth heat treatment between 400 and 600 °C reveal an acceptor removal reaction that follows first-order kinetics with an activation energy of 1.7 ± 0.5 eV and a pre-exponential factor of 2.3 × 10 7 s−1 consistent with a point defect, diffusion limited process. We also observe that 90° sessile dislocations identified via transmission electron microscopy are annihilated in the same temperature regime, which is evidence for point defect-mediated climb. Ensuring high-quality epitaxy by characterizing defect reactions in a BEOL-compatible Ge-on-Si process flow is key to enabling vertical integration of optical interconnects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reports on a systematic investigation of the frequency comb enhancement in hybrid InAs/GaAs multisection quantum dot lasers on silicon. The colliding configuration provides an operating frequency at twice the fundamental frequency of the free-spectral range of the cold cavity. In particular, the contribution of the linewidth enhancement factor, or αH-factor, on the comb formation is investigated with respect to the reverse voltage and temperature conditions. When those parameters are varied, the formation of the combs is found to increase with respect to αH. In addition, we also demonstrate that this quantum dot laser exhibits a comb behavior, while the beatnote locking is not fully achieved. This effect is essentially due to the dispersion which is not fully compensated from the optical nonlinearities. These results bring further insights on comb and pulse formations in multisection quantum dot lasers, which is important for designing future light sources for on-chip and chip-to-chip optical interconnects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

a-axis oriented ZnMgO epitaxial thin films with a strong linear electro-optic (EO) effect were developed by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The Mg incorporation into ZnO thin films not only obviously increases the transmittance at the wavelength range of 400–800 nm but also reduces the leakage current by 3–6 orders of magnitude. Furthermore, with the increase in the Mg content, the linear EO response enhances significantly. In particular, the derived effective EO coefficient rc of the Zn0.72Mg0.28O thin film is (7.6 ± 0.2) pm/V, which is over three times larger than the reported values for ZnO-based thin films and over twice larger than that of ZnO single crystals. The results and discussion conclude that an enhanced intrinsic contribution can be responsible for the increase in rc with Mg incorporation. These findings open the way for the ZnO-based thin films to EO devices in optical communication and optical interconnects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The III–V InP/InGaAsP/InGaAs material family is important for photonic devices due to its optical emission and absorption in the 1.55 and 1.3 μm telecommunication bands for optical interconnects. However, InGaAsP/InGaAs generally suffer from relatively high surface recombination velocity—compared to Si [Das et al., in 2020 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) (IEEE, Calgary, AB, 2020), pp. 1167–1170] and InP [Joyce et al., Nano Lett. 12, 5325–5330 (2012)], which reduces the efficiency and can increase the noise in nanophotonic devices. Here, we demonstrate an efficient method to passivate the surface using a combination of sulfur-saturated ammonium sulfide and atomic layer deposition. After annealing, the surface passivation led to a surface recombination velocity as low as 45 cm/s, corresponding to a > 180 × increase in the photoluminesence of a nanoscale light-emitting device with 200 nm width. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High performance organic semiconductor lasers (OSLs), especially those under current injection, have been sought for decades due to their potentially great applications in fields such as spectroscopy, displays, medical devices, and optical interconnection. The design and fabrication of high-quality resonators is a prerequisite for high performance OSLs. In the case of planar microcavities, the fabrication process of top distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) usually requires electron beam evaporation or manual lamination on top of organic thin-film layers, which can lead to issues including degradation of the organic materials, large-scale non-uniformity, and difficulties for current injection. Here, we report a non-destructive way of fabricating a top DBR by thermal evaporation. The top DBR based on thermally evaporated alternative TeOx/LiF stacks shows low morphological roughness, high process tolerance, and high reflectivity. Moreover, the deposition process causes negligible damage to the organic thin-film layers underneath. With the combination of a conventional e-beam evaporated bottom DBR, a high performance planar microcavity OSL with a low threshold of 1.7 μJ cm−2, an emission linewidth of 0.24 nm, and an angular divergence of <3° has been achieved under nitrogen laser pumping. Similar performance, with a high Gaussian beam quality comparable with that of an ideal diffraction-limited beam, was also obtained under diode pumping, showing the potential of this technique for building compact and cost-effective organic lasers with good beam quality. Our result will open a promising route for future high performance microcavity optoelectronic devices, especially for laser devices under current injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, phototransistors have considerably expanded their field of application, including for instance heterodyne detection and optical interconnects. Unlike in low-light imaging, some of these applications require fast photodetectors that can operate in relatively high light levels. Since the gain and bandwidth of phototransistors are not constant across different optical powers, the devices that have been optimized for operation in low light level cannot effectively be employed in different technological applications. We present an extensive study of the gain and bandwidth of short-wavelength infrared phototransistors as a function of optical power level for three device architectures that we designed and fabricated. The gain of the photodetectors is found to increase with increasing carrier injection. Based on a Shockley-Read-Hall recombination model, we show that this is due to the saturation of recombination centers in the phototransistor base layer. Eventually, at a higher light level, the gain drops, due to the Kirk effect. As a result of these opposing mechanisms, the gain-bandwidth product is peaked at a given power level, which depends on the device design and material parameters, such as doping and defect density. Guided by this physical understanding, we design and demonstrate a phototransistor which is capable of reaching a high gain-bandwidth product for high-speed applications. The proposed design criteria can be employed in conjunction with the engineering of the device size to achieve a wide tunability of the gain and bandwidth, hence paving the way toward fast photodetectors for applications with different light levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrically tunable active metasurfaces are attracting great interest as a possible means to realize two-dimensional pixelated surface-normal modulators for wide applications, such as high-speed imaging, optical interconnects, and photonic switching. In this work, we fabricate a metallic metasurface embedded with an electro-optic (EO) polymer and experimentally demonstrate the electrical tuning of its reflectance property. Unlike the previously demonstrated surface-normal modulators based on the EO polymer, we utilize the Fabry-Perot resonance of a metal-insulator-metal mode to trap the incident light inside a thin EO polymer layer to enhance the modulation efficiency. By applying voltage between the top and bottom layers of Au, we observe a clear spectral shift in the plasmonic resonance as well as a 5-MHz dynamic modulation at 1630-nm wavelength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly P doped Ge layers are proposed as a material to realize an on-chip laser for optical interconnect applications. In this work, we demonstrate that these donor impurities have a dramatic impact on the excess carrier lifetime and introduce detrimental many-body effects such as linewidth broadening in the gain medium. Linewidth broadening Γopt = 10 meV for undoped Ge and Γopt ≥ 45 meV for Ge with a doping level up to 5.4 × 1019 cm−3 were extracted using photoluminescence spectroscopy and pump-probe spectroscopy. In addition, we observed that the excess carrier lifetime (τc) drops by more than an order of magnitude from 3 ns in undoped Ge to <0.3 ns in doped Ge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental data for an InP-based 40-stage quantum cascade laser structure grown on a 6-in. GaAs substrate with a metamorphic buffer are reported. The laser structure had an Al0.78In0.22As/ In0.73Ga0.27As strain-balanced active region composition and an 8 lm-thick, all-InP waveguide. High reflection coated 3 mm x 30 µm devices processed from the wafer into a ridge-waveguide configuration with a lateral current injection scheme delivered over 200 mW of total peak power at 78 K with lasing observed up to 170 K. No signs of performance degradation were observed during a preliminary 200-min reliability testing. Temperature dependence for threshold current and slope efficiency in the range from 78 K to 230 K can be described with characteristic temperatures of T0 ≈ 460 K and T1 ≈ 210 K, respectively. Lasing was extended to 303 K by applying a partial high reflection coating to the front facet of the laser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The static and dynamic performance of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) used as light-sources for optical interconnects is highly influenced by temperature. We study the effect of temperature on the performance of high-speed energy-efficient 980nm VCSELs with a peak wavelength of the quantum well offset to the wavelength of the fundamental longitudinal device cavity mode so that they are aligned at around 60 °C. A simple method to obtain the thermal resistance of the VCSELs as a function of ambient temperature is described, allowing us to extract the active region temperature and the temperature dependence of the dynamic and static parameters. At low bias currents, we can see an increase of the -3 dB modulation bandwidth f-3dB with increasing active region temperature, which is different from the classically known situation. From the detailed analysis of f-3dB versus the active region temperature, we obtain a better understanding of the thermal limitations of VCSELs, giving a basis for next generation device designs with improved temperature stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A photodetector generating a nearly constant photocurrent in a very wide spectral range from ultraviolet (UV) to infrared has been demonstrated using chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene. Instability due to a photochemical reaction in the UV region has been minimized using an Al2O3 passivation layer, and a responsivity comparable to that of Highly Ordered Pyrolytic Graphite graphene photodetectors of 8mA/W has been achieved at a 0.1V bias, despite high defect density in the CVD graphene. A highly sensitive multi-band photodetector using graphene has many potential applications including optical interconnects, multi-band imaging sensors, highly sensitive motion detectors, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-speed directly modulated microlasers are potential light sources for on-chip optical interconnection and photonic integrated circuits. In this Letter, dynamic characteristics are studied for microring lasers by rate equation analysis considering radial carrier hole burning and diffusion and experimentally. The coupled modes with a wide radial field pattern and the injection current focused in the edge area of microring resonator can greatly improve the high speed response curve due to the less carrier hole burning. The small-signal response curves of a microring laser connected with an output waveguide exhibit a larger 3 dB bandwidth and smaller roll-off at low frequency than that of the microdisk laser with the same radius of 15 lm, which accords with the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently proposed that an array of optical cavities containing quantum emitters could be interconnected by an optical bus made of Fabry Pérot resonators lying side by side, for applications in quantum information processing and quantum simulation. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of this geometry. We show that the resonators can be conveniently coupled, and that the coupling rate between adjacent waveguides can be widely tuned using the thermo-optic effect. The device is linearly scalable and can be combined with other integrated devices, making it more generally applicable as an adjustable optical delay line or optical interconnect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) from light hole related transitions at the Γ point (LH1-cΓ1) in Ge/Si0.15Ge0.85 multiple quantum wells is demonstrated from both photocurrent and optical transmission measurements. Our experimental results show a large and sharp optical absorption peak due to LH1-cΓ1 transitions, and its associated strong absorption change based on the QCSE. By exploiting LH1-cΓ1 transitions, optical modulators with improved compactness and competitive extinction ratio and optical loss can be envisioned for low energy chip-scale optical interconnect applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extremely temperature stable oxide-confined high-speed 980-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for optical interconnects are presented. Error-free performance at 38 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s is demonstrated at temperatures as high as 85 °C and 75 °C, respectively. No adjustment of driving conditions was found to be necessary from room temperature up to 85 °C. In addition, energy-efficient 35 Gb/s operation at a very low pump current of only 4 mA is demonstrated with a low dissipated heat-to-bit rate ratio of 233 mW/Tbps. These are by far the highest bit rates reported for VCSELs at such temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-speed metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors based on Schottky-contacted core/shell GaAs/AlGaAs and bare GaAs nanowires were fabricated and characterized. The measured core/shell temporal response has a ∼10 ps full-width at half-maximum and an estimated corrected value less than 5 ps. The bare GaAs devices exhibit a slower response (∼35 ps) along with a slow decaying persistent photocurrent (∼80 s). The core/shell devices exhibit significantly improved dc and high-speed performance over bare nanowires and comparable performance to planar MSM photodetectors. The picosecond temporal response, coupled with picoampere dark current, demonstrate the potential for core/shell nanowires in high-speed imaging arrays and on-chip optical interconnects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extremely energy-efficient oxide-confined high-speed 850 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers for optical interconnects are presented. Error-free performance at 17 and 25 Gb/s via a 100 m multimode fiber link is demonstrated at record high dissipation-power-efficiencies of up to 69 fJ/bit (<0.1 mW/Gbps) and 99 fJ/bit, respectively. These are the most power efficient high-speed directly modulated light sources reported to date. The total energy-to-data ratio is 83 fJ/bit at 25 °C and reduces to 81 fJ/bit at 55 °C. These results were obtained without adjustment of driving conditions. A high D-factor of 12.0 GHz/(mA)0.5 and a K-factor of 0.41 ns are measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functioning InP/InGaAs/InP p-i-n photodiodes were integrated onto a Si substrate using hydrogen-induced layer transfer process (ion cut) combined with selective chemical etching. This device transfer process minimizes the hydrogen implantation-induced damage and simultaneously improves the transferred surface flatness for device processing. After transfer, the dark current under the reverse bias increased by ∼50 times over that of the as-grown photodiodes at -1.5 V, while the photoinduced current was comparable to that of the as-grown sample. These results were discussed in terms of interactions between minority carriers and the remaining implantation-induced damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stretchable complementary metal oxide silicon circuits consisting of ultrathin active devices mechanically and electrically connected by narrow metal lines and polymer bridging structures are presented. This layout—together with designs that locate the neutral mechanical plane near the critical circuit layers—yields strain independent electrical performance and realistic paths to circuit integration. A typical implementation reduces the strain in the silicon to less than ∼0.04% for applied strains of ∼10%. Mechanical and electrical modeling and experimental characterization reveal the underlying physics of these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents experimental verification of free-space subdiffraction imaging using a Veselago-Pendry superlens [Sov. Phys. Usp. 10, 509 (1968); Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3966 (2000)] based on the negative-refractive-index transmission-line approach. The superlens is able to resolve two sources λ0/3 apart not only at the design frequency of 2.40 GHz, where the metamaterial possesses μ and ε equal to -μ0 and -ε0, respectively, but also at 2.08 GHz, where the metamaterial experiences a resonance in μ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors demonstrate silicon based visible lasers as potential optical interconnects by combining silicon processed resonators and solution processed light-emitting polymers. The high refractive index and absorption coefficient of silicon at these wavelengths were addressed by developing distributed Bragg reflector resonators on a silicon-on-insulator substrate. The performance of the hybrid structure was characterized and analyzed in comparison to an all-silica counterpart and mechanisms for controlling the number of longitudinal modes and for tuning the emission wavelength were explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors have studied the optical input interface for Nb single-flux-quantum (SFQ) circuits and demonstrated its operation using photomixing technique. Two tunable lasers of C band were used for photomixing. We adopted a multistage toggle flip-flop (TFF) circuit as the main part of the test circuit. As the first trial, we used lasers with wavelength difference of 0.044 nm at around 1550 nm, which corresponds to the laser beat frequency of 5.5 GHz. The output signals from the 13- and 14-stage TFFs were observed and it showed the input SFQ frequency of 5.5 GHz. Thus, the authors demonstrated the conversion of the optical signal to SFQ signal and succeeded in driving the SFQ circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors propose a light-emitting field-effect transistor with the active layer made of the ultrathin single crystal silicon with the (100) surface orientation. The ambipolar carrier injections from the highly impurity doped regions to the ultrathin silicon are achieved in complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor compatible planar structures and the optical intensities are controlled by the gate voltage. By using the device, they have demonstrated that a simple electrical signal can be transferred by light and detected on the same silicon chip as photocurrents controlled by the gate bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bragg mismatching condition for volume holograms occurs because of the changes in the thickness and the refractive index of holographic recording materials during the recording and reconstruction procedures. We propose an improved compensation method to physically correct these effects in the fabrications of volume holograms for optical interconnects. In order to show the validity of this method, Slavich photographic plate VRP-M is used to fabricate optical interconnects. The correction of the Bragg diffraction angle shift of about 2.10°, which is induced by 6.14% film shrinkage and 0.06 refractive index shift, is successfully demonstrated with the surface-normal configuration. A shrinkage- and refractive-index shift-corrected volume hologram with 23% diffraction efficiency is experimentally confirmed. The methodology proposed is applicable to other phase media when the associated film shrinkage and refractive-index shift data are experimentally determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report an actively induced change in the transmission of a light pulse passing through a microcavity filled with a 40 μm thick nonlinear potassium titanyl phosphate crystal. This change was induced by an intense pulse at the frequency of the second harmonic of the original pulse. The magnitude of the change was measured to be 20%. The observed changes in transmission are shown to be in very good agreement with the numerical results from a model that considers the intrinsically fast second-order nonlinear interaction between both pulses within the nonlinear microcavity. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the effects of point source heating on multiple quantum well modulators. Result of using small devices with small optical spots; Application of a reverse bias field; Limitation of the maximum data rate of optical interconnection system.

Demonstrates a 60 gigaHertz board-to-board optical interconnection using polymer optical buses in conjunction with microprism coupler. Enhancement of interconnection speed by elimination of backplane interconnection; Application of interconnection scheme on substrate array; Implementation of high-speed on-board transceiver in connection with polymer waveguide lens.

Examines the high contrast ratio self-electro-optic effect devices (SEED). Basis on the inverted asymmetric Fabry-Perot (ASFP) reflection modulators; Comparison between the contrast ratio of photodiode and phototransistor SEED; Implication of ASFP modulators for device integration and optical interconnection applications.

Examines the ultrafast relaxation oscillation (RO) of vertical cavity surface emitting laser diodes (SELD). Measurement of intrinsic RO frequency by electrical gain switching; Correlation between RO and modulation bandwidth; Role of high speed modulation for SELD applications; Use of SELD in optical interconnect applications.

A dynamic reconfiguration of optical interconnections for enhanced flexibility in photonic switching systems is realized using a two-dimensional vertical to surface transmission electrophotonic (VSTEP) device array. A matrix operational scheme for the VSTEP array is proposed and demonstrated. Through this operation, functions for light emission and for electrically programmable spatial light modulation are obtained in a single chip of the VSTEP array and a high-speed electronic addressing of 1 ns per one line for the matrix is also confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the fabrication and characteristics of closely spaced (10 μm) dual-beam laser sources by the process of impurity-induced disordering. We present data demonstrating that these devices are capable of high efficiency and reliable operation when operated in a p-side up configuration. We also show that these devices can be placed in close proximity with a minimal amount of thermal and electrical interaction between devices. These features have significant implications for the realization of high-density arrays of independently addressable lasers for optical interconnection of integrated circuits and optical imaging systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An asymmetric Fabry–Perot structure with a multiple quantum well active region is demonstrated to provide a reflection change of >45% for an operating voltage swing of only ∼2 V, with a contrast ratio of more than 15. Photocurrent measurements show that the same devices also work as voltage-tunable detectors. Such devices compete effectively with low-voltage waveguide modulators, with further advantages of easy coupling and compact sizes, i.e., small capacitances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of measurements of the electrically induced refractive index change caused by the free-carrier effect in a silicon Schottky diode. We find that for the wavelength λ=1.3 μm, the real part of the refractive index changes by as much as |Δn|∼0.01 for current densities less than 1 A/cm2. This refractive index change produced changes in the input-coupling efficiency as large as 75% in our sample geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the shrinkage-corrected volume holograms based on photopolymeric phase media for surface-normal optical interconnects. Fabrication of the hologram; Methods to correct the film shrinkage effect of the Dupont photopolymer; Details on the surface-normal coupling condition.

Examines modulation of lasers without prebias and power penalty due to timing jitter. Investigation of low threshold lasers for optical interconnection systems potential; Importance of optical interconnection in technology; Delay in current pulse and emitted pulse during laser modulation.

Investigates a serially grafted connection between functional and passive polymer waveguides. Information on the connection loss at a waveguide grafting point; Details on the optical intensity modulation in the serially grafted waveguide; Implication for optical interconnects and integrated optics.

Presents the theoretical analysis and experimental results of intra- and of interplane V-shape 1-to-many optical interconnects. Confirmation of the coupling efficiencies; Examination of the influence of the angular fluctuation of a device; Determination of the angle between two grating vectors.

Investigates the crosstalk between two neighboring gratings in photorefractive B[sub 12]SiO[sub 20]optical interconnects. Induction of gratings by the interference between one reference beam and two object beams; Application of phase shift to object beams; Intensity ratio between reference and object beams.

Presents a surface normal optical interconnect with a 1-to-12 collinear fan-out. Types of polymer-based holograms; Advantages of free space optical interconnect; Provisions of multistage interconnects.

Describes the formation of a compression-molded polymer-based optical bus. Use of the effective index method in determining the optimal dimension of the molding tool design; Determination of the waveguide propagation loss using the two prism method; Application of the technology for board-to-board optical interconnects.

Evaluates the light detection sensitivity of a vertical cavity structure used in an optical switch device. Aim to obtain a low energy optical interconnection; Achievement of maximum sensitivity during the coincidence of light wavelength with fundamental cavity mode; Effect of field distribution on sensitivity.

Presents an optical interconnecting scheme utilizing volume holograms of random patterns. Use of a perturbative integral expansion technique; Absence of sidelobes; Superiority of the scheme.

Electroluminescence from strained n-Ge quantum well light emitting diodes grown on a silicon substrate are demonstrated at room temperature. Electroluminescence characterisation demonstrates two peaks around 1.55 μm and 1.8 μm, which correspond to recombination between the direct and indirect transitions, respectively. The emission wavelength can be tuned by around 4% through changing the current density through the device. The devices have potential applications in the fields of optical interconnects, gas sensing, and healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Merging of electronics and photonics at subwavelength dimensions could potentially allow development of ultracompact electro-optic modulators and active optical interconnects. Here, we introduce a field-effect active plasmonic modulator where the metallic ring serves as both a photonic resonator and a field electrode. By exploiting the simultaneous electronic and photonic functionalities of our plasmonic device, we show devices offering significantly improved modulation depths (as high as ∼10.85 dB) compared to active dielectric micro-ring resonators. Device concepts introduced in this work are applicable in realization of various integrated components and could play an important role in development of active plasmonic circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose and analyze a promising surface-normal optical modulator for use in optical interconnects. The device is based on n-AlGaAs materials, operating with red light, and is therefore fully compatible with silicon photodetectors. The operation principle is based on current-induced electron heating, with redistribution of carriers between conduction band valleys playing a significant part. Calculations predict efficient absorption modulation with operating voltages <1 V and switching times of units of picoseconds. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance of optical interconnects using volume holographic gratings and substrate-guided waves is subject to source wavelength detuning which originates from laser chirping and operating temperature changes. In this letter, we characterize and measure the dispersion of commonly used surface-normal volume holographic gratings. Dispersion characteristics of a 20 μm thick photopolymer volume holographic grating are evaluated. A dispersion correction method is demonstrated to provide a dispersion-free surface-normal optical interconnect using two dispersion-compensated volume holographic gratings and substrate-guided waves which automatically compensate the dispersion that results from detuning over a 5.7 nm bandwidth. © 1998 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]