Coherent Silicon Micro-Ring Modulators: Unlocking Higher Bandwidth Density

The integration of electronic and photonic integrated circuits on silicon enables photon-based data transmission across distances from cross-continental to intra-processor scales, maximizing bandwidth and minimizing energy consumption. As next-generation computing clusters drive the need for ultra-high-bandwidth optical interconnects to support large-scale AI applications, densely integrated high-speed electro-optical converters on silicon are becoming essential. Coherent optics, a cornerstone of modern communication systems, is emerging as a key technology for intra-data-center interconnects. Recent advances in high-bandwidth silicon photonic modulators have achieved coherent transmission rates exceeding 1Tb/s, a bandwidth density greater than 5Tb/s/mm, and compatibility with high-repetition-rate optical frequency combs.