High-power operation of electroabsorption modulators

Using a thermoreflectance imaging technique, surface temperature of active electroabsorption modulators is measured at different incident powers and modulator biases. Excellent agreement is obtained between these data and the results of a self-consistent finite element model. It is shown experimentally and theoretically that thermal runaway at high-power operation can be avoided by improving the thermal design of the device. High-power operation is achieved in an optimized device structure, yielding a high, damage-free power dissipation level in excess of 300 mW.