Abstract
We report on the design of a novel silicon optical modulator based on photonic crystals with complete transverse-magnetic
(TM) photonic band-gap (PBG). The device operation is based on a dynamic shift of the complete PBG due to induced
change in the silicon refractive index by free carrier injection. The plane-wave expansion method (PWE) and finitedifference
time-domain (FDTD) simulation were utilized to design the device and investigate its light modulation
performance. With small size, rapid response time and high extinction ratio, the proposed optical modulator can be easily
implemented to design ultra-compact all optical integrated circuits.
Keywords
Optical modulator, Photonic crystal waveguides, Silicon photonics, Photonic band-gap.
Citation
G. S. KLIROS, A. N. FOTIADIS, G. P. TZIOPIS, Design of silicon optical modulator based on complete TM photonic band-gap, Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials - Rapid Communications, 3, 7, July 2009, pp.655-658 (2009).
Submitted at: June 11, 2009
Accepted at: July 20, 2009