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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]

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]

A scheme for the direct conversion of millimeter and THz waves to optical signals is introduced. The compact device consists of a plasmonic phase modulator that is seamlessly cointegrated with an antenna. Neither high-speed electronics nor electronic amplification is required to drive the modulator. A built-in enhancement of the electric field by a factor of 35?000 enables the direct conversion of millimeter-wave signals to the optical domain. This high enhancement is obtained via a resonant antenna that is directly coupled to an optical field by means of a plasmonic modulator. The suggested concept provides a simple and cost-efficient alternative solution to conventional schemes where millimeter-wave signals are first converted to the electrical domain before being up-converted to the optical domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasmonics provides a possible route to overcome both the speed limitations of electronics and the critical dimensions of photonics. We present an all-plasmonic 116Ðgigabits per second electrooptical modulator in which all the elementsÑthe vertical grating couplers, splitters, polarization rotators, and active section with phase shiftersÑare included in a singlemetal layer.The device can be realized on any smooth substrate surface and operates with low energy consumption. Our results show that plasmonics is indeed a viable path to an ultracompact, highest-speed, and low-cost technology that might find many applications in a wide range of fields of sensing and communications because it is compatible with and can be placed on a wide variety of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]