17.9 A 105Gb/s 300GHz CMOS transmitter

“High speed” in communications often means “high data-rate” and fiber-optic technologies have long been ahead of wireless technologies in that regard. However, an often overlooked definite advantage of wireless links over fiber-optic links is that waves travel at the speed of light c, which is about 50% faster than in optical fibers as shown in Fig. 17.9.1 (top left). This “minimum latency” is crucial for applications requiring real-time responses over a long distance, including high-frequency trading [1]. Further opportunities and new applications might be created if the absolute minimum latency and fiber-optic data-rates are put together. (Sub-)THz frequencies have an extremely broad atmospheric transmission window with manageable losses as shown in Fig. 17.9.1 (top right) and will be ideal for building light-speed links supporting fiber-optic data-rates. This paper presents a 105Gb/s 300GHz transmitter (TX) fabricated using a 40nm CMOS process.