Recently, the joint team of Professor Wang Xingjun, Professor Peng Chao and researcher Shu Haowen from the School of Electronics of Peking University has made a major breakthrough in the field of ultra-high-speed pure silicon modulators, successfully realizing the world's first pure silicon modulator with an electro-optical bandwidth of 110GHz. This breakthrough is the first time in the world that the bandwidth of pure silicon modulators has been increased to more than 100GHz since Intel reported the first 1GHz silicon modulator in the journal Nature in 2004. The related research results were published online in Science Advances under the title "110GHz Bandwidth Slow Light Silicon Modulator".
The results of this research have the advantages of ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-small size, ultra-large passband and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integration process compatibility. This means that the pure silicon modulator can meet the needs of ultra-high speed, high integration, multi-wavelength communication, high thermal stability, and wafer-level production in future ultra-high-speed application scenarios. This is a major breakthrough in the field of silicon-based optoelectronics, which provides important key technical support for the application of high-speed and short-distance data centers and optical communications, and is of great significance to the development of next-generation data centers.
From a technical point of view, this research result has led to an important breakthrough in the field of pure silicon modulators. Modulators are key devices in optical communication systems that convert electrical signals into optical signals to enable fiber optic communication. Over the past few decades, there has been a focus on increasing the bandwidth and performance of modulators to meet the increasing demand for data transmission. However, due to the limitations of silicon materials, the bandwidth of pure silicon modulators has been limited to the range of tens of GHz.
The joint team of Professor Wang Xingjun, Professor Peng Chao and Professor Shu Haowen successfully increased the bandwidth of the pure silicon modulator through a series of innovative design and process optimization, achieving an ultra-high rate of 110GHz. In their research, they used ultra-small silicon waveguides and unique modulation structures to achieve efficient modulation by optimizing the coupling effects of optics and electricity. In addition, they utilize a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integration process, which makes the modulator highly integrated and controllable in production costs.
This breakthrough is of great significance for promoting the development of optical communication technology. With the increasing demand for data transmission rate and capacity in modern society, optical communication, as a high-speed, large-capacity transmission method, is gradually becoming the mainstream. However, current optical communication systems still face some challenges, such as high cost, large size, and energy consumption. The breakthrough in the bandwidth of pure silicon modulators provides new possibilities for solving these problems.
First, the ultra-high bandwidth of 110GHz enables modulators to achieve higher data rates. This is very important for the construction of high-speed, short-distance data centers. Data centers are at the heart of modern Internet applications and require high-speed, stable data transmission. However, traditional electronic modulators have certain limitations in data transmission rate, which is difficult to meet the growing demand. The bandwidth breakthrough of pure silicon modulators can effectively improve the transmission rate of data centers and promote the development of data centers.
Second, the high level of integration is another important feature of pure silicon modulators. By using a CMOS integration process, the modulator can be integrated with other optoelectronic devices on the same chip, achieving a high level of integration and compact size. This not only reduces the cost of the system, but also simplifies the design and manufacturing process of the system. In addition, the high level of integration opens up the possibility of multi-wavelength communication. Multi-wavelength communication is an important way to improve transmission capacity, and higher data transmission rates can be achieved by transmitting optical signals of multiple wavelengths at the same time. The high integration of pure silicon modulators provides important technical support for the realization of multi-wavelength communication.
Finally, pure silicon modulators offer the advantages of high thermal stability and wafer-level production. High thermal stability means that the modulator maintains stable performance over long periods of operation, independent of temperature changes. This is very important for application scenarios such as data centers to ensure the stability and reliability of the system. Wafer-level production refers to the combination of the modulator manufacturing process with the traditional chip manufacturing process to achieve large-scale production. This not only reduces manufacturing costs, but also improves production efficiency and promotes the commercialization of technology.
In short, Professor Wang Xingjun and Professor Peng Chao of the School of Electronics of Peking University Recently, Professor Wang Xingjun, Professor Peng Chao and researcher Shu Haowen of the School of Electronics of Peking University have made a major breakthrough in the field of ultra-high-speed pure silicon modulators, successfully realizing the world's first pure silicon modulator with an electro-optical bandwidth of 110GHz. This breakthrough is the first time in the world that the bandwidth of pure silicon modulators has been increased to more than 100GHz since Intel reported the first 1GHz silicon modulator in the journal Nature in 2004. The related research results were published online in Science Advances under the title "110GHz Bandwidth Slow Light Silicon Modulator".
The results of this research have the advantages of ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-small size, ultra-large passband and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integration process compatibility. This means that the pure silicon modulator can meet the needs of ultra-high speed, high integration, multi-wavelength communication, high thermal stability, and wafer-level production in future ultra-high-speed application scenarios. This is a major breakthrough in the field of silicon-based optoelectronics, which provides important key technical support for the application of high-speed and short-distance data centers and optical communications, and is of great significance to the development of next-generation data centers.
From a technical point of view, this research result has led to an important breakthrough in the field of pure silicon modulators. Modulators are key devices in optical communication systems that convert electrical signals into optical signals to enable fiber optic communication. Over the past few decades, there has been a focus on increasing the bandwidth and performance of modulators to meet the increasing demand for data transmission. However, due to the limitations of silicon materials, the bandwidth of pure silicon modulators has been limited to the range of tens of GHz.
The joint team of Professor Wang Xingjun, Professor Peng Chao and Professor Shu Haowen successfully increased the bandwidth of the pure silicon modulator through a series of innovative design and process optimization, achieving an ultra-high rate of 110GHz. In their research, they used ultra-small silicon waveguides and unique modulation structures to achieve efficient modulation by optimizing the coupling effects of optics and electricity. In addition, they utilize a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integration process, which makes the modulator highly integrated and controllable in production costs.
This breakthrough is of great significance for promoting the development of optical communication technology. With the increasing demand for data transmission rate and capacity in modern society, optical communication, as a high-speed, large-capacity transmission method, is gradually becoming the mainstream. However, current optical communication systems still face some challenges, such as high cost, large size, and energy consumption. The breakthrough in the bandwidth of pure silicon modulators provides new possibilities for solving these problems.
First, the ultra-high bandwidth of 110GHz enables modulators to achieve higher data rates. This is very important for the construction of high-speed, short-distance data centers. Data centers are at the heart of modern Internet applications and require high-speed, stable data transmission. However, traditional electronic modulators have certain limitations in data transmission rate, which is difficult to meet the growing demand. The bandwidth breakthrough of pure silicon modulators can effectively improve the transmission rate of data centers and promote the development of data centers.
Second, the high level of integration is another important feature of pure silicon modulators. By using a CMOS integration process, the modulator can be integrated with other optoelectronic devices on the same chip, achieving a high level of integration and compact size. This not only reduces the cost of the system, but also simplifies the design and manufacturing process of the system. In addition, the high level of integration opens up the possibility of multi-wavelength communication. Multi-wavelength communication is an important way to improve transmission capacity, and higher data transmission rates can be achieved by transmitting optical signals of multiple wavelengths at the same time. The high integration of pure silicon modulators provides important technical support for the realization of multi-wavelength communication.
Finally, pure silicon modulators offer the advantages of high thermal stability and wafer-level production. High thermal stability means that the modulator maintains stable performance over long periods of operation, independent of temperature changes. This is very important for application scenarios such as data centers to ensure the stability and reliability of the system. Wafer-level production refers to the combination of the modulator manufacturing process with the traditional chip manufacturing process to achieve large-scale production. This not only reduces manufacturing costs, but also improves production efficiency and promotes the commercialization of technology.