The world's smallest electro-optic modulator
According to a report from the Physical Science website on January 22, 2018] Oregon State University designed and produced the world's smallest electro-optic modulator, which may mean that the energy used by data centers and supercomputers will be significantly reduced.
Electro-optic modulators play an important role in fiber optic communications networks. Just as a transistor acts as a switch for electrical signals, an electro-optic modulator is the switch of an optical signal. Optical communication uses light, so the modulator turns on and off the light that transmits the binary signal stream over the fiber.
The new modulator is 10 times smaller than the previous best electro-optic modulator and 100 times more energy efficient. It is about the size of a bacterium and measures 0.6 microns by 8 microns.
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Oregon State University’s School of Engineering said: “This is the most exciting research I've done so far because of the impact that this device will bring, as well as design and manufacturing challenges.” Research results published in Nano Letters "magazine.
In this work, Wang Ailun and his Ph.D. student Li Erwen made use of transparent conductive oxide materials. The researchers invented a structure that uses a transparent conductive oxide gate instead of a typical metal gate to combine metal oxide semiconductor capacitors with ultra-compact photonic crystal nanocavities.
The combination of material and device innovations designed to enhance the interaction between electronics and photonics, enabling researchers to create smaller electro-optic modulators.
Professor Wang had consulted with colleagues in the industry about whether the things they were developing were on the right path. Professor Wang said: “They told me that reducing the size and reducing energy consumption is the development trend in the next 5 to 10 years. This is exactly what they are looking for.” (Xu Wenqi, the Institute of Electronics and Electronics, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology)
Electro-optic modulators play an important role in fiber optic communications networks. Just as a transistor acts as a switch for electrical signals, an electro-optic modulator is the switch of an optical signal. Optical communication uses light, so the modulator turns on and off the light that transmits the binary signal stream over the fiber.
The new modulator is 10 times smaller than the previous best electro-optic modulator and 100 times more energy efficient. It is about the size of a bacterium and measures 0.6 microns by 8 microns.
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Oregon State University’s School of Engineering said: “This is the most exciting research I've done so far because of the impact that this device will bring, as well as design and manufacturing challenges.” Research results published in Nano Letters "magazine.
In this work, Wang Ailun and his Ph.D. student Li Erwen made use of transparent conductive oxide materials. The researchers invented a structure that uses a transparent conductive oxide gate instead of a typical metal gate to combine metal oxide semiconductor capacitors with ultra-compact photonic crystal nanocavities.
The combination of material and device innovations designed to enhance the interaction between electronics and photonics, enabling researchers to create smaller electro-optic modulators.
Professor Wang had consulted with colleagues in the industry about whether the things they were developing were on the right path. Professor Wang said: “They told me that reducing the size and reducing energy consumption is the development trend in the next 5 to 10 years. This is exactly what they are looking for.” (Xu Wenqi, the Institute of Electronics and Electronics, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology)
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