Electroabsorption optical modulator

Abstract: An electroabsorption modulator incorporates waveguiding regions along the length of the modulator that include quantum wells where at least two of the regions have quantum wells with different bandgaps. In one embodiment of the invention, the regions are arranged such that the quantum wells have bandgaps with decreasing bandgap energy along the length of the modulator from the modulator's input to its output. The bandgap energy of the quantum wells may be decreased in discrete steps or continuously. Advantageously, such an arrangement better distributes the optical absorption as well as the carrier density along the length of the modulator. Further advantageously, the modulator may handle increased optical power as compared with prior art modulators of similar dimensions, which allows for improved link gain when the optical modulator is used in an analog optical communication link.
Filed: 4/11/2016
Application Number: 15/95516
This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
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