Irradiation tests on InP based Mach Zehnder modulator

Particle detectors in High Energy Physics experiments contain various types of mixed-signal integrated circuits and demand data rates of multiple Gigabits per second per chip and several Terabits per second for the whole detector. Optical transmission by external modulation of a continuous wave laser is a possible solution to solve the problem of high data rates. The detectors have to operate in a high radiation environment and particles passing through the circuits alter the properties of the circuits giving rise to performance issues. In this paper, we investigate the radiation hardness performance of Indium Phosphide (InP) based Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZM). The modulator circuit has been irradiated with a 24 GeV/c proton beam at CERN up to various fluences. The irradiated samples have been characterized and compared against measurements of non-irradiated devices. Also, a design of an optical integrated circuit using the Generic Integration philosophy is presented.