A 40 Gb/s Monolithically Integrated Linear Photonic Receiver in a $0.25~\mu {\rm m}$ BiCMOS SiGe:C Technology

This letter presents the first 40 Gb/s monolithically integrated silicon photonics linear receiver (Rx) comprising a germanium photodiode (Ge-PD) and a linear transimpedance amplifier (TIA). Measured optical-electrical (O/E) 3 dB bandwidth (BW) of the Rx is 31 GHz. At 40 Gb/s, the Rx achieves a sensitivity of -3 dBm average optical input power with BER of 2.5×10^-11. It operates at λ = 1.55 μm wavelength, uses 3.3 and 3.7 V power supplies, dissipates 275 mW of power, provides maximum differential output amplitude of 500 mVpp, and occupies an area of 3.2 mm². The presented receiver achieves the highest bit rate among the published work in monolithically integrated silicon photonics receivers.