90 Gbit/s 4-level pulse-amplitude-modulation vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser driver integrated circuit in 130 nm SiGe technology

Research output: Contribution to book/conference proceedings/anthology/reportConference contributionContributedpeer-review

Abstract

This paper presents the design and measurements of a 4-level pulse-amplitude-modulation (4-PAM) vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) driver integrated circuit (IC) for short-range, high-speed optical communications. The IC is fabricated in 130 nm SiGe technology. Open electrical and optical eye diagrams are reported at 90 Gbit/s and 40 Gbit/s, respectively. The driver consumes only 177 mW of power from a dual supply voltage of 2.0 and 3.35 V including the VCSEL. The optical bit error rate (BER) was tested at 30 Gbit/s showing an error-free connection for one of the two channels. The design is inductor-less and the active area occupies only 150 μm × 150 μm. To the best of the authors' knowledge this is the fastest 4-PAM VCSEL driver IC implemented on silicon.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIEEE MTT-S Latin America Microwave Conference (LAMC)
Place of PublicationPuerto Vallarta
PublisherIEEE Xplore
ISBN (electronic)978-1-5090-4287-6
ISBN (print)978-1-5090-4288-3
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Peer-reviewedYes

Publication series

SeriesIEEE MTT-S Latin America Microwave Conference (LAMC)

Conference

Title1st IEEE MTT-S Latin America Microwave Conference, LAMC 2016
Duration12 - 14 December 2016
CityPuerto Vallarta
CountryMexico

External IDs

Scopus 85015867305
ORCID /0000-0002-1851-6828/work/142256675

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

Keywords

  • BiCMOS, Driver, IC, laser driver, microwave, mm-wave, SiGe, VCSEL