Broadband Electroabsorption Modulators Design Based on Epsilon-Near-Zero Indium Tin Oxide

In this paper, we propose a compact silicon (Si) electroabsorption modulator based on a slot waveguide with epsilon-near-zero indium tin oxide materials. In order to integrate the device with low-loss Si strip waveguides, both butt-coupling and evanescent-coupling schemes are investigated. For both cases, our electroabsorption modulator demonstrates a high extinction ratio and a low insertion loss over a wide optical bandwidth.