UC Santa Barbara

The rapid scaling of artificial intelligence computation has exposed electrical interconnects as a critical bottleneck in modern data centers, driving the industry toward silicon photonics and high-speed wavelength division multiplexing links. As networking standards have evolved to demand >100G per lane, the architectural paradigm has shifted from massively parallel, moderate-speed microring arrays to fewer, high-baud-rate channels. Despite this aggressive scaling, existing literature remains heavily focused on isolated device-level demonstrations, lacking systematic parametric studies that connect fundamental microring geometry to system-level Bit Error Rate performance. To address this gap, this thesis presents a comprehensive, multi-physics numerical modeling framework for high-speed Silicon Microring Modulators (MRM) and Microring Resonators (MRR) on a 160 nm standard platform. Utilizing an end-to-end simulation flow (MODE, FDTD, HEAT, CHARGE, and INTERCONNECT), the fundamental trade-offs between optical bandwidth, insertion loss, and extinction ratio are systematically evaluated. For the receiver MRR, transient step-response characterization reveals that the optical cavity behaves as a low-pass filter, dictating that wider optical bandwidths are strictly required to mitigate Inter-Symbol Interference at speeds exceeding 100 Gbps. For the transmitter MRM, realistic PN junction parameters are benchmarked from literature to evaluate the complex trade-off between optical modulation amplitude and cavity bandwidth. Through rigorous multi-dimensional parameter sweeps of active doping concentrations and drive voltages, an optimal operating regime is identified. The optimized silicon MRM successfully demonstrates a 100 Gbps transmission rate satisfying the concatenated forward error correction limit at a 2 V peak-to-peak drive voltage. Ultimately, this thesis establishes a robust device-to-system co-simulation methodology while revealing the fundamental, rigid speed limits of standard silicon-on-insulator microrings, highlighting the necessity for advanced junction engineering and the eventual transition to highly efficient electro-optic materials.