High-speed monolithically integrated silicon photoreceivers fabricated in 130-nm CMOS technology

Abstract

A complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) monolithically integrated photoreceiver is presented. The circuit was fabricated in a 130-nm unmodified CMOS process flow on 2-μm-thick silicon-on-insulator substrates. The receiver operated at 8 Gb/s with 2-dBm average input optical power and a bit error rate of less than 10-9. The integrated lateral p-i-n photodetector was simultaneously realized with the amplifier and had a responsivity of 0.07 A/W at 850 nm. The measured receiver sensitivities at 5, 3.125, 2, and 1 Gb/s, were -10.9, -15.4, -16.5, and -19 dBm, respectively. A 3-V single-supply operation was possible at bit rates up to 3.125 Gb/s. The transimpedance gain of the receivers was in the range 53.4-31 dBΩ. The circuit dissipated total power between 10 mW and 35 mW, depending on the design.