Analysis of RF Photonic Link using Silicon Photonic Ring-Assisted Mach Zehnder Modulator

Recent developments in silicon photonic (SiP) integrated circuits have opened new avenues for analog circuit designers to explore hybrid integration of photonic with standard CMOS electronics. SiP platforms provide the opportunity to realize these systems in a compact chip-scale form factor and alleviate long-standing challenges with the optical devices. In this work, we analyze analog RF photonic link using Ring-Assisted Mach Zehnder Modulator (RAMZM) for high linearity. We analyze the gain, noise figure, and linearity metrics associated with the RAMZM based link and present design trade-offs.