This paper presents the design and the experimental characterization of a 10 Gb/s electronic driver for silicon Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs). This driver is able to operate in harsh environments characterized by radiation levels up to 1 Grad(SiO 2 ) total ionizing dose (TID). To compensate for the detrimental effects that radiation produces on the target 65 nm bulk silicon technology both device- and circuit-level radiation hardened by design (RHBD) techniques are developed and implemented. Extreme TID levels are faced using long-channel transistors with enclosed layout, avoiding the use of p-MOSFETs, and implementing a differential self-biased cascode architecture with common-mode feedback. Band-widening techniques, e.g., inductive peaking, cross-coupled capacitors, and buffer chaining, have been used to improve the driver’s frequency response and reach the targeted data rate. Electrical measurements show 10 Gb/s waveforms with an eye diagram amplitude suitable for MZM driving. Electro-optical measurements performed connecting the electronic driver to a silicon photonic MZM confirm the achievement of a 10 Gb/s system-level operability. The radiation hardness of the driver is verified by exposing the integrated circuit to X-rays. The measurements confirm the ability of the driver to work up to 1 Grad with an eye amplitude reduction of only 10% and a 7% increment in the rise and fall times, validating the effectiveness of the implemented RHBD techniques.

Design and Characterization of 10 Gb/s and 1 Grad TID-Tolerant Optical Modulator Driver / Ciarpi, G.; Cammarata, S.; Monda, D.; Faralli, S.; Velha, P.; Magazzu, G.; Palla, F.; Saponara, S.. - In: IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS. I, REGULAR PAPERS. - ISSN 1549-8328. - 69:8(2022), pp. 3177-3189. [10.1109/TCSI.2022.3171827]

Design and Characterization of 10 Gb/s and 1 Grad TID-Tolerant Optical Modulator Driver

Velha P.;
2022-01-01

Abstract

This paper presents the design and the experimental characterization of a 10 Gb/s electronic driver for silicon Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs). This driver is able to operate in harsh environments characterized by radiation levels up to 1 Grad(SiO 2 ) total ionizing dose (TID). To compensate for the detrimental effects that radiation produces on the target 65 nm bulk silicon technology both device- and circuit-level radiation hardened by design (RHBD) techniques are developed and implemented. Extreme TID levels are faced using long-channel transistors with enclosed layout, avoiding the use of p-MOSFETs, and implementing a differential self-biased cascode architecture with common-mode feedback. Band-widening techniques, e.g., inductive peaking, cross-coupled capacitors, and buffer chaining, have been used to improve the driver’s frequency response and reach the targeted data rate. Electrical measurements show 10 Gb/s waveforms with an eye diagram amplitude suitable for MZM driving. Electro-optical measurements performed connecting the electronic driver to a silicon photonic MZM confirm the achievement of a 10 Gb/s system-level operability. The radiation hardness of the driver is verified by exposing the integrated circuit to X-rays. The measurements confirm the ability of the driver to work up to 1 Grad with an eye amplitude reduction of only 10% and a 7% increment in the rise and fall times, validating the effectiveness of the implemented RHBD techniques.
2022
8
Ciarpi, G.; Cammarata, S.; Monda, D.; Faralli, S.; Velha, P.; Magazzu, G.; Palla, F.; Saponara, S.
Design and Characterization of 10 Gb/s and 1 Grad TID-Tolerant Optical Modulator Driver / Ciarpi, G.; Cammarata, S.; Monda, D.; Faralli, S.; Velha, P.; Magazzu, G.; Palla, F.; Saponara, S.. - In: IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS. I, REGULAR PAPERS. - ISSN 1549-8328. - 69:8(2022), pp. 3177-3189. [10.1109/TCSI.2022.3171827]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11572/364823
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