Si Mach-Zehnder Modulator for PAM-4, QAM-OFDM, and DMT transmission at C-Band

A silicon (Si) Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) is demonstrated for 10-km SMF Link at C-band (1550 nm), which allows the pre-emphasized 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) data transmission at 50 GBaud (100 Gbit/s) per channel. By employing the pre-emphasis to the PAM-4 data over different links, the channel dispersion-induced power fading can be compensated. The PAM-4 data with improved spectral usage efficiency in limited bandwidth is employed to encode the Si MZM, and the maximal transmission capacities of 50 GBaud for back-to-back (BtB), 50 GBaud for 2-km SMF, and 26 GBaud for 10-km DSF under KP4-FEC criterion are respectively obtained for providing 100/100/52 Gbit/s data transmission with qualified bit error ratios of 1.5×10 -4 /2×10 -4 /1.4×10 -4 . The penalties on the sensitivity of the receiving power are 0.32 dB for 50-GBaud PAM-4 data after 2-km-SMF link and 0.64 dB for 26-GBaud PAM-4 data over 10-km DSF as compared to the BtB case. Such a scheme takes advantages including the lower power consumption with less circuit complexity than traditional push-pull driven operation, which certifies the 50-GBaud PAM-4 data capability per channel for inter-data-center applications. In addition, this Si MZM device can also modulate the pre-emphasized 16-QAM OFDM data at 140 Gbit/s and the bit-loaded DMT data at 153 Gbit/s.