Design and Characterization of a 50-GHz-Bandwidth IQ Modulator for High-Capacity Optical Transmissions

This paper presents the design and experimental characterization of a silicon-on-insulator-based in-phase and quadrature electro-optical modulator with a bandwidth of 50 GHz. Electromagnetic simulations were carried out to focus on optimizing the trade-off between electro-optical bandwidth, extinction ratio, and insertion loss in order to meet the requirements for supporting 1 Tb/s optical transmissions. Experimental characterization demonstrated that the modulator's performance aligns closely with the optimization simulations and the requirements for the intended application.