A 20 Mbit/s integrated photoreceiver with digital outputs in 0.6 µm CMOS technology

This paper presents an integrated fiber-optic receiver suitable for industrial and communication applications, designed to provide direct digital CMOS output signals. The circuit exploits two digital output signals at different optical thresholds, thus providing an alarm function. The circuit, designed in a standard 5V 0.6 µm CMOS technology, achieves more than -20 dBm of optical sensitivity and dissipates 175 mW from a 5 V power supply. The total chip area, including pads, is 2 mm²and the die has been designed to be encapsulated in a metallic T046 package.