Spatially modulated light detector in CMOS with sense-amplifier receiver operating at 180 Mb/s for optical data link applications and parallel optical interconnects between chips

We present a first realization of a detector receiver combination based on the spatially modulated light detector (SML-detector). The SML-detector gives an output signal that has a shorter falling edge than that of a conventional CMOS detector. It is combined with a sense-amplifier in a standard 0.8-μm CMOS technology, allowing one to receive over 155-Mb/s of light pulses at 5.6-μW average light input power for λ=860 nm. The detector 3-dB bit-rate is 300 Mb/s for this wavelength and for the used spatial topology. For λ=635 nm the detector 3-dB bitrate is 510 Mb/s. Apart from monolithic integration of detector and receiver, further signal processing circuitry (including digital signal processing functions) can be integrated on the same chip. The compact system allows conceiving low cost densely packed optoelectronic receivers for parallel optical interconnects and for wavelength division multiplexing applications in the visible and the near-infrared wavelength range