Micro-transfer printed high-speed InP-based electro-absorption modulator on silicon-on-insulator

A high-speed InP-based electro-absorption modulator (EAM) on 220 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) is designed, fabricated, and measured. The III-V device is heterogeneously integrated to the SOI using transfer printing, with direct bonding. The printing accuracy of the device was within ±0.5 μm. This design evanescently couples light between the III-V waveguide and the SOI via a taper region in the InP ridge for high transmission. This method is a flexible and robust method of transferring an InP EAM to SOI, where multiple device variations have been transferred. At 1550 nm, the printed EAM has a measured electrical bandwidth of up to 40 GHz, an extinction ratio (ER) of 30 dB from 0 to −6 V, and an insertion loss of 6.5 dB, which reduces with longer wavelengths. An ER of 25 dB is obtained over a spectral bandwidth of 30 nm with biasing to −8 V. Open-eye diagrams were measured up to 50 Gbps in a back-to-back measurement. This device is suitable for applications in high-speed communications and sensing, leveraging the added advantage of III-V absorption modulation on a silicon photonics platform.