In this paper we present a design as well as the fabrication procedure of a new type of electro-optical modulator based on plasma dispersion effect. The device consists from a regular single mode silicon waveguide and periodically patterned electrodes made out an indium thin oxide (ITO) located along both sides of the optical core through which the photonic signal is propagating. By applying voltage on the electrodes a periodic change in the free electrons is occurred along the optical core. This change affects both the imaginary and real part of the refractive index resulting in the generation of periodic change in the refractive index that creates an effective Bragg reflector. Different fabrication strategies are reported. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We demonstrate the feasibility of 10.7 Gb/s error-free (BER < 10 -12) optical transmission on distances up to 2 km using a recently developed ultra-low-voltage commercial Electro-Optic Modulator (EOM) that is driven by 0.6 Vpp and with an optical input power of 1 mW. Given this low voltage operation, the modulator could be driven directly from the detectors' board signals without the need of any further amplification reducing significantly the power dissipation and the material budget.