A low-power 1-Gb/s CMOS laser driver for a zero-bias modulated optical transmitter

Author

Chen, Leonard P. ; Li, Melissa Y. ; Chang-Hasnain, Connie J. ; Lau, Kam Y.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., California Univ., Berkeley, CA, USA

Volume

9

Issue

7

fYear

1997

fDate

7/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

997

Lastpage

999

Abstract

We demonstrate the feasibility of using a CMOS laser driver for a low-power digital optical transmitter that is capable of at least 1-Gb/s operation. The transmitter employs low threshold lasers and zero-bias modulation. The circuit driver uses a strategy for low power consumption such that a majority of the total transmitter power is consumed by the laser instead of the electronics. The driver can function over a wide temperature range (77 K-300 K) for a variety of laser diodes.

Keywords

CMOS digital integrated circuits; cryogenic electronics; driver circuits; laser accessories; optical modulation; optical transmitters; semiconductor lasers; surface emitting lasers; 1 Gbit/s; 1.2 mum; 77 to 300 K; CMOS laser driver; MOSIS; VCSEL; edge-emitting laser; laser diodes; low power consumption; low threshold lasers; low-power digital optical transmitter; wide temperature range; zero-bias modulated optical transmitter; CMOS technology; Driver circuits; Energy consumption; Laser feedback; Optical modulation; Optical transmitters; Power lasers; Semiconductor laser arrays; Temperature distribution; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.593378

Filename

593378