Abstract
In this Letter, we demonstrate a highly efficient, compact, high-contrast and low-loss silicon slow wave modulator
based on a traveling-wave MachZehnder interferometer with two 500 μm long slow wave phase shifters. 40 Gb ∕ s
operation with 6.6 dB extinction ratio at quadrature and with an on-chip insertion loss of only 6 dB is shown. These
results confirm the benefits of slow light as a means to enhance the performance of silicon modulators based on the
plasma dispersion effect.
