Modeling and Analysis of Optical Modulators Based on Free-Carrier Plasma Dispersion Effect

Silicon photonic networks are revolutionizing computing systems by improving the energy efficiency, bandwidth, and latency of data movements. Optical modulators, such as microresonators (MRs) and Mach–Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), are the basic building blocks of silicon photonic networks. This paper proposes a SPICE-compatible electro-optical co-simulation model, basic optical switch integration model (BOSIM), to systematically study optical modulators using PN, PIN, and metal–insulator–silicon (MIS) capacitor device technologies. BOSIM holistically models both transient and steady state properties, such as switching speed, power, transmission spectrum, area, and carrier distribution. BOSIM is validated by the measured data from eight research groups and companies. Compared to MRs, BOSIM shows MZIs are fast, with a high extinction ratio and large bandwidth but in the sacrifice of loss, energy, and area. Using a PIN diode over a PN diode can save area, but retain the loss and energy, while an MIS capacitor has the shock response of carrier distribution in a narrow range and is marginalized gradually. For instance, an MZI can achieve a $2.5 {\times }$ bit rate, $6.06{\times }$ extinction ratio, $71.04 {\times }\,\,3$ -dB bandwidth, but costs at least $1.93 {\times }$ passing loss, $1.46 {\times }$ energy consumption, and $16.67 {\times }$ area, compared with MR.