Low power 4 x 5-Gb/s VCSEL driver array in 0.13-µm CMOS

Abstract

A 4-channel CMOS VCSEL driver array is implemented in 0.13-um CMOS technology. The optical transmitter drives a VCSEL laser diode, operating at 5-Gb/s with the proposed APC control to obtain constant and reliable optical output power. To enhance the bandwidth and ensure the input swing of the pre-amplifier, cascode amplifier is adopted. A single channel VCSEL driver achieves 10-dB voltage gain, 5-Gb/s operation with an average bandwidth of 5-GHz for 0.2-pF VCSEL capacitance. The driver dissipates only 22.7-mW from 1.2-V single supply. The active size is 1740 × 1500 µm2.