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arXiv · 1211.2419

A Figure of Merit Based Transmitter Link Penalty Calculation for CMOS-Compatible Plasma-Dispersion Electro-Optic Mach-Zehnder Modulators

D. M. Gill·W. M. J. Green·S. Assefa·J. C. Rosenberg·T. Barwicz·S. M. Shank·H. Pan·Y. A. Vlasov
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Abstract

We derive equations that quantify silicon Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) modulator impact upon optical link budget for NRZ transmissions based solely upon modulator extinction ratio (ER), the efficiency-loss figure of merit (FOM), and peak-to-peak drive voltage (Vpp). Our modulator link penalty equations transform the modulator efficiency-loss FOM from a simple device quality metric into a means of predicting how design and technology choices impact system margin. Our results indicate that, with a 17.8 V-cm FOM and 1 Vpp drive, designing an MZI to have an ER anywhere within the large range from 3.5-10 dB leads to nearly constant link margins, identical to within 0.5 dB.

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D. M. Gill, W. M. J. Green, S. Assefa, J. C. Rosenberg, T. Barwicz, S. M. Shank, H. Pan, Y. A. Vlasov. 2013-06-06. A Figure of Merit Based Transmitter Link Penalty Calculation for CMOS-Compatible Plasma-Dispersion Electro-Optic Mach-Zehnder Modulators. https://arxiv.org/abs/1211.2419

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