Plasmonic modulator with >170 GHz bandwidth demonstrated at 100 GBd NRZ

Opt Express. 2017 Feb 6;25(3):1762-1768. doi: 10.1364/OE.25.001762.

Abstract

We demonstrate a plasmonic Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator with a flat frequency response exceeding 170 GHz. The modulator comprises two phase modulators exploiting the Pockels effect of an organic electro-optic material in plasmonic slot waveguides. We further show modulation at 100 GBd NRZ and 60 GBd PAM-4. The electrical drive signals were generated using a 100 GSa/s digital to analog converter (DAC). The high-speed and small-scale devices are relevant for next-generation optical interconnects.