Theoretical investigation of a low-voltage Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells optical modulator operating at 1310 nm integrated with Si3N4 waveguides

摘要

We report on the design and simulation using 3D-FDTD simulation of Si₃N₄-integrated Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells (MQWs) optical modulators at the optical wavelength of 1310 nm. The effect of fabrication tolerance and wavelength dependence on the optical coupling performance between the Si₃N₄ waveguide and the Ge/SiGe MQWs structure as well as the optical modulation performance are reported. The results show that Si₃N₄-waveguide-integrated Ge/SiGe MQWs optical modulators can attain several key performance requirements in terms of extinction ratio, insertion loss, driving voltage, and fabrication variations with a compact footprint favorable for short-range optical interconnect applications.