Abstract
We present an optimized design for a 10G- differential-phase-shift-keyed (DPSK) receiver based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) unbalanced tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switch in sequence with a Mach-Zehnder delay interferometer (MZDI). The proposed design eliminates the limitation in sensitivity of the device produced by the waveguide propagation losses in the delay line. A 2.3 dB increase in receiver sensitivity at a bit-error-rate (BER) of 10 -9 is experimentally measured over a standard implementation. The enhanced sensitivity is achieved with zero power consumption by tuning the operating wavelength or with less than 5mW for a fixed wavelength using microheaters. Also the foot-print of the device is minimized to 0.11mm 2 by the use of compact spirals. © 2012 Optical Society of America.
