A versatile Si-bipolar driver circuit with high output voltage swing for external and direct laser modulation in 10 Gb/s optical-fiber links

Author

Rein, H.M. ; Schmid, R. ; Weger, P. ; Smith, T. ; Herzog, T. ; Lachner, R.

Author_Institution

Ruhr-Univ., Bochum, Germany

Volume

29

Issue

9

fYear

1994

fDate

9/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1014

Lastpage

1021

Abstract

A monolithic integrated driver circuit developed for laser modulation in a 10 Gb/s optical-fiber link is presented. The IC was fabricated in a self-aligned double-polysilicon Si-bipolar production technology with f_T≈25 GHz. The circuit can be operated up to 14 Gb/s with a maximum output voltage swing as high as 3.6 V at 50 Ω load (corresponding to an internal current swing of 108 mA), which allows the circuit to drive external modulators. In addition, the circuit can be used for direct laser modulation at 10 Gb/s, since the output current swing can easily be controlled over a wide range (e.g., from 15 mA to 60 mA). Problems in the design of such driver circuits as well as their solutions are discussed in detail

Keywords

bipolar integrated circuits; digital communication systems; digital integrated circuits; driver circuits; elemental semiconductors; laser accessories; modulators; optical communication equipment; optical modulation; silicon; 10 Gbit/s; 15 to 60 mA; 25 GHz; Si; bipolar driver circuit; direct laser modulation; external modulators; monolithic integrated driver circuit; optical-fiber links; self-aligned double-polysilicon technology; Diode lasers; Driver circuits; Fiber lasers; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; High speed optical techniques; Optical control; Optical modulation; Production; Resistors; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9200

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/4.309897

Filename

309897