10 Gbit/s all-optical NRZ-OOK to RZ-OOK format conversion in an ultra-small III-V-on-silicon microdisk fabricated in a CMOS pilot line

Abstract

We report the demonstration of an all-optical, bias free and error-free (bit-error-rate ~10(-12)), 10 Gbit/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ) to return-to-zero (RZ) data format conversion using a 7.5 µm diameter III-V-on-silicon microdisk resonator. The device is completely processed in a 200 mm CMOS pilot line. The data format conversion is based on the phenomenon of pulse carving of an NRZ optical data stream by an optical clock. The underlying physical effect for the pulse carving is the change in the refractive index caused by the generation of free-carriers in a pump -probe configuration. We believe it to be the first NRZ-to-RZ format convertor built on a hybrid III-V-on-silicon technology platform.