Optical modulators are at the heart of optical communication links. Ideally, they should feature low loss, low drive voltage, large bandwidth, high linearity, compact footprint and low manufacturing cost. Unfortunately, these criteria have been achieved only on separate occasions. Based on a silicon and lithium niobate hybrid integration platform, we demonstrate Mach–Zehnder modulators that simultaneously fulfil these criteria. The presented device exhibits an insertion loss of 2.5 dB, voltage–length product of 2.2 V cm in single-drive push–pull operation, high linearity, electro-optic bandwidth of at least 70 GHz and modulation rates up to 112 Gbit s⁻¹. The high-performance modulator is realized by seamless integration of a high-contrast waveguide based on lithium niobate—a popular modulator material—with compact, low-loss silicon circuitry. The hybrid platform demonstrated here allows for the combination of ‘best-in-breed’ active and passive components, opening up new avenues for future high-speed, energy-efficient and cost-effective optical communication networks.

光调制器是光通信链路的核心。理想情况下，它们应具有低损耗，低驱动电压，大带宽，高线性度，紧凑的尺寸和较低的制造成本的特点。不幸的是，仅在不同场合才达到这些标准。基于硅酸锂和铌酸锂混合集成平台，我们演示了同时满足这些条件的马赫曾德尔调制器。所展示的器件在单驱动推挽式操作中具有2.5 dB的插入损耗，2.2 V cm的电压长度积，高线性度，至少70 GHz的电光带宽以及高达112 Gbit s ^-1的调制速率。高性能调制器是通过将基于铌酸锂（一种流行的调制器材料）的高对比度波导与紧凑的低损耗硅电路无缝集成而实现的。这里展示的混合平台允许“同类最佳”有源和无源组件的组合，为未来的高速，节能和经济高效的光通信网络开辟了新途径。