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We summarize our experimental exploration of the capabilities of an ultrabroad-bandwidth plasmonic Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM), in an intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) system for short-reach optical transmission up to 10 km. We study modulation, transmission, and reception of ultrahigh-symbol-rate (up to 304 GBd) multi-level optical signals with two different signaling schemes: pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), with up to 8 amplitude levels and partial-response-encoded binary (polybinary) modulation with memory length up to 4. By mapping the performance to a concatenated soft-decision (SD) and hard-decision (HD) forward error correction (FEC) coding scheme, a net bitrate of 363.4 Gbit/s is possible with PAM-8 signaling and 279.0 Gbit/s with tetrabinary (polybinary) signaling after 10 km standard single-mode fiber transmission. Considering an HD-only coding scheme, a net bitrate of 318.0 Gbit/s is possible with PAM-6 and 277.1 Gbit/s with tetrabinary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transparentOptical-subTHz-Optical link providing record-high single line rates of 240 Gbit/s and 192 Gbit/s on a single optical carrier over distances from 5 to 115 m is demonstrated. Besides a direct mapping of the optical to a 230 GHz subTHz-carrier frequency by means of a uni-traveling carrier (UTC) photodiode, we demonstrate direct conversion of data from the subTHz domain back to the optical domain by a plasmonic modulator. It is shown that the subTHz-to-optical upconversion can even be performed at good quality without any electrical amplifiers. Finally, at the receiver, the local oscillator is employed to directly map the optical signal back to the electrical baseband within a coherent receiver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a 222 GBd on-off-keying transmitter in a short-reach intra-datacenter scenario with direct detection after 120 m of standard single mode fiber. The system operates at net-data rates of >200 Gb/s OOK for transmission distances of a few meters, and >177 Gb/s over 120 m, limited by chromatic dispersion in the standard single mode fiber. The high symbol rate transmitter is enabled by a high-bandwidth plasmonic-organic hybrid Mach–Zehnder modulator on the silicon photonic platform that is ribbon-bonded to an InP DHBT 2:1 digital multiplexing selector. Requiring no driving RF amplifiers, the selector directly drives the modulator with a differential output voltage of 622 mVpp measured across a 50 Ω resistor. The transmitter assembly occupies a footprint of less than 1.5 mm × 2.1 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate highly efficient couplers in a two-dimensional grating configuration for a vertical fiber-coupling fabricated in the silicon-on-insulator platform. A combination of sub-wavelength reflectors and blazed gratings enables both high coupling efficiency and vertical grating coupling. We experimentally achieve coupling efficiencies of −2.6 dB at 1544 nm and −3.4 dB at 1536 nm for x- and y-polarized LP01 modes, respectively. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulated −2.4 dB coupling efficiency for both polarizations at a wavelength of 1550 nm. Simulated and measured crosstalk between two polarizations were −19 dB and <−16 dB, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A most compact all-metallic high-speed in-phase and quadrature modulator with a 36 μm fiber-to-fiber pitch operating at 200 Gbit/s is introduced. All components of the modulator are made of metal: The vertical crating couplers, the waveguides, polarization rotators, splitters, and phase shifters. As the modulator relies on substrate-independent processes, it can basically be put down on any smooth layer. The modulator is interconnected to a multicore fiber for optical input and output coupling. We demonstrate 100 GBd signal modulation with a quadrature phase-shift keying modulation format and a bit-error ratio below the hard-decision forward error correction. The metallic modulator shows the potential of plasmonics in offering highest speed and advanced modulations on a smallest possible footprint. The simple fabrication makes it attractive for low-cost applications such as short-haul and data-center networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new plasmonic transmitter solution offering 0.8 Tbit/s on an ultra-compact 90 µm × 5.5 µm footprint is introduced. It comprises a densely arranged four-channel plasmonic phase modulator array that directly interconnects an optical fiber array. Each plasmonic modulator features high-index grating couplers—for direct and efficient conversion from a fiber mode to a plasmonic slot mode and vice versa—and a plasmonic waveguide—for efficient high-speed modulation. The individual devices achieve data rates of 200 Gbit/s with a symbol rate of 100 GBd. Electrical and optical crosstalk between neighboring modulators were found to have no significant influence on the data modulation experiment. The modulator array has been tested in a 100 GBd experiment with signals at a single wavelength (mimicking a space division multiplexing scheme) and at different wavelengths (mimicking a wavelength division multiplexing experiment). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon photonic grating couplers are demonstrated featuring a perfect vertical coupling and predicted coupling efficiencies of 87% and 78% with an apodized and a standard periodic structure, respectively. Vertical coupling is usually difficult to be achieved with standard diffraction gratings, since both the forward and backward scattered light meet the Bragg condition alike. In this work a vertical grating coupler which satisfies both high directionality (> 97%) and low back-reflection (< 1%) simultaneously is realized using a blazed sub-wavelength structure. The measured maximum coupling efficiencies with a standard single-mfiber are −1.5 dB and −2.2 dB for apodized and periodic structures, respectively. The suggested structure offers an ultimate solution for compact coupling schemes in Si photonics, since it meets the most important needs of grating couplers, which are directionality, ease of fabrication, and a possibility to vertically couple. The vertical grating coupler are fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator wafer with a 220 nm-thick silicon layer, relying only on a 2-step etching technology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper gives an overview on the design, fabrication, and characterization of quantum cascade detectors. They are tailorable infrared photodetectors based on intersubband transitions in semiconductor quantum wells that do not require an external bias voltage due to their asymmetric conduction band profile. They thus profit from favorable noise behavior, reduced thermal load, and simpler readout circuits. This was demonstrated at wavelengths from the near infrared at 2 μm to THz radiation at 87 μm using different semiconductor material systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]