Linearization of Mach-Zehnder modulator using microring-based all-pass filter

By applying the microring resonator to the Mach-Zehnder (MZ) optical modulator and employing the super-linear phase change characteristic of the all-pass filter, the sublinear modulation curve of the conventional MZ modulator is highly linearized. With properly controlled power coupling between the microring and the arm of the MZ modulator, the third-order distortion can be suppressed. If the transmission coefficient is set between 0.25 and 0.42, the linearity range larger than 90% can be easily achieved. The maximum linearity range is even up to 99.5%.