Optical Modulators based on depletion width translation in semiconductor microdisk resonators

Optical modulation using a depletion width translation mechanism in microdisk devices is investigated. The devices are designed to operate at low drive voltages and have high bandwidths. Analog modulators that operate at drive voltages below 1 V with a 3-dB bandwidth of over 8 GHz were achieved. Eye diagrams showed that the device is capable of operating as a digital switch with speeds up to 10 Gb/s. Since the speed in the case of depletion width modulation is essentially determined by the junction area of the device, it can be improved by further reduction in the active area.