An Energy Efficient 56 Gbps PAM-4 VCSEL Transmitter Enabled by a 100 Gbps Driver in 0.25 µm InP DHBT Technology

• Datacenters demand higher speed VCSEL-based optical interconnects at low power consumption. As a potential technology enabler, this paper presents a wide bandwidth and energy efficient multilevel PAM VCSEL driver implemented in an InP 0.25 μm double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) technology. The operational bandwidth of the driver is verified and error-free electrical data transmission up to 56 Gbps PAM-2 and 100 Gbps PAM-4 is demonstrated at a driver energy consumption less than 2 pJ/bit. The driver is integrated and tested with an in-house fabricated 850 nm VCSEL. Error-free 56 Gbps PAM-4 optical transmission at a transmitter energy consumption of 3.7 pJ/bit is demonstrated without equalization. This is the highest data rate reported for an integrated PAM-4 modulated VCSEL transmitter, while being the most energy efficient above 40 Gbps operation. Moreover, the VCSEL driver offers a pre-emphasis feature at PAM-2 operation for improved link throughput and receiver sensitivity.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Telekommunikation (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Telecommunications (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Kommunikationssystem (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Communication Systems (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Signalbehandling (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Signal Processing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

DHBT technology

pre-emphasis

OOK

PAM-2

PAM-4

VCSEL driver

100 GbE

VCSEL transmitter

short-range optical communications

InP

optical interconnects

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)