Comparison of lithium niobate and silicon substrate on phase shift and efficiency performance for mach-zehnder interferometer modulator

Abstract

In this study, the low-group velocity slow-light mach-zehnder interferometer (MZI) modulator, low loss and high efficiency for two modulator substrate lithium niobate (LN) and silicon were presented and optimized at 1.55µm operating wavelength. The high power consumption of conventional modulator was the major drawback in the operation of modulators. Therefore, it was a good time for low-power modulator design and development and to compare the LN and Silicon modulator on the phase shifted using the slow-light technique by designing the full MZI modulator consisting of splitter and combiner on both substrates. The phase shift of LN is 2% compared with the silicon 0.09% and higher phase shift give better performance with low power consumption due to the change of modulating voltage of the MZI modulator for LN while the silicon depends on modulating voltage manipulating concentration of charge carrier in doped silicon.