title: A sub-picojoule-per-bit CMOS photonic receiver for densely integrated systems.
abstract: We report ultra-low-power (690fJ/bit) operation of an optical receiver consisting of a germanium-silicon waveguide detector intimately integrated with a receiver circuit and embedded in a clocked digital receiver. We show a wall-plug power efficiency of 690microW/Gbps for the photonic receiver made of a 130nm SOI CMOS Ge waveguide detector integrated to a 90nm Si CMOS receiver circuit. The hybrid CMOS photonic receiver achieved a sensitivity of -18.9dBm at 5Gbps for BER of 10(-12). Enabled by a unique low-overhead bias refresh scheme, the receiver operates without the need for DC balanced transmission. Small signal measurements of the CMOS Ge waveguide detector showed a 3dB bandwidth of 10GHz at 1V of reverse bias, indicating that further increases in transmission rate and reductions of energy-per-bit will be possible.
authors.affiliation: Sun Microsystems Physical Sciences Center, San Diego, CA 92121, USA. Xuezhe.zheng@sun.com
authors.forename: Xuezhe
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Frankie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.forename: Hiren
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thacker
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pinguet
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mekis
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Guoliang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Kannan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lexau
authors.forename: Elad
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alon
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: Ashok V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Krishnamoorthy
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D055096:Optical Devices; D010783:Photometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012666:Semiconductors; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018511:Systems Integration; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation*