# Optical Transmitter Based on a 1.3-μm VCSEL and a SiGe Driver Circuit for Short-Reach Applications and beyond

Antonio Malacarne, Christian Neumeyr, Wouter Soenen, Fabio Falconi, Claudio Porzi, Timo Aalto, J. Rosskopf, Johan Bauwelinck, Antonella Bogoni

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

### Abstract

Long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (LW-VCSELs) with emission wavelength in the 1.3<formula><tex>$\mu$</tex></formula>m region for intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) optical transmissions, enable longer fiber reach compared to C-band VCSELs, thanks to the extremely low chromatic dispersion impact at that wavelength. A lot of effort has been recently dedicated to novel cavity designs in order to enhance LW-VCSELs modulation bandwidth to allow higher data rates. Another approach to further improve VCSEL-based intensity modulation speed consists of making use of dedicated driver circuits implementing feed forward equalization (FFE). In this manuscript we present a transmitter assembly incorporating a 4-channel 0.13-<formula><tex>$\mu$</tex></formula>m SiGe driver circuit wire-bonded to a novel dual 1.3<formula><tex>$\mu$</tex></formula>m-VCSEL array. The short-cavity Indium Phosphide (InP) Buried Tunnel Junction (BTJ) VCSEL design minimizes both the photon lifetime and the device parasitic currents. The integrated driver circuit requires 2.5 V supply voltage only due to the implementation of a pseudo-balanced regulator, it includes a 2-tap asymmetric FFE where magnitude, sign, relative delay and pulse width distortion (PWD) of the taps can be modified. Through the proposed transmitter, standard single-mode fiber reach of 20 km and 4.5 km respectively for 28 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s data rate has been demonstrated with state-of-the-art power consumption. Transmitter performance has been analyzed through pseudorandom bit sequences of both 27-1 and 231-1 length and the additional benefit due to the use of the driver circuit has been discussed in detail. A final comparison with state-of-the-art VCSEL drivers is also included.

Original language English 1527-1536 10 Journal of Lightwave Technology 36 9 https://doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2017.2782882 Published - 1 May 2018 A1 Journal article-refereed

### Fingerprint

transmitters
cavities
taps
surface emitting lasers
modulation
wavelengths
indium phosphides
fibers
regulators
C band
tunnel junctions
pulse duration
assembly
wire
bandwidth
life (durability)
photons
electric potential

### Keywords

• Access networks
• Bandwidth
• BiCMOS integrated circuits
• Driver circuits
• Modulation
• Optical fiber
• Optical intensity modulation
• Optical interconnections
• Optical transmitters
• Temperature measurement
• Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

### Cite this

Malacarne, Antonio ; Neumeyr, Christian ; Soenen, Wouter ; Falconi, Fabio ; Porzi, Claudio ; Aalto, Timo ; Rosskopf, J. ; Bauwelinck, Johan ; Bogoni, Antonella. / Optical Transmitter Based on a 1.3-μm VCSEL and a SiGe Driver Circuit for Short-Reach Applications and beyond. In: Journal of Lightwave Technology. 2018 ; Vol. 36, No. 9. pp. 1527-1536.
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title = "Optical Transmitter Based on a 1.3-μm VCSEL and a SiGe Driver Circuit for Short-Reach Applications and beyond",
abstract = "Long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (LW-VCSELs) with emission wavelength in the 1.3$\mu$m region for intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) optical transmissions, enable longer fiber reach compared to C-band VCSELs, thanks to the extremely low chromatic dispersion impact at that wavelength. A lot of effort has been recently dedicated to novel cavity designs in order to enhance LW-VCSELs modulation bandwidth to allow higher data rates. Another approach to further improve VCSEL-based intensity modulation speed consists of making use of dedicated driver circuits implementing feed forward equalization (FFE). In this manuscript we present a transmitter assembly incorporating a 4-channel 0.13-$\mu$m SiGe driver circuit wire-bonded to a novel dual 1.3$\mu$m-VCSEL array. The short-cavity Indium Phosphide (InP) Buried Tunnel Junction (BTJ) VCSEL design minimizes both the photon lifetime and the device parasitic currents. The integrated driver circuit requires 2.5 V supply voltage only due to the implementation of a pseudo-balanced regulator, it includes a 2-tap asymmetric FFE where magnitude, sign, relative delay and pulse width distortion (PWD) of the taps can be modified. Through the proposed transmitter, standard single-mode fiber reach of 20 km and 4.5 km respectively for 28 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s data rate has been demonstrated with state-of-the-art power consumption. Transmitter performance has been analyzed through pseudorandom bit sequences of both 27-1 and 231-1 length and the additional benefit due to the use of the driver circuit has been discussed in detail. A final comparison with state-of-the-art VCSEL drivers is also included.",
keywords = "Access networks, Bandwidth, BiCMOS integrated circuits, Driver circuits, Modulation, Optical fiber, Optical intensity modulation, Optical interconnections, Optical transmitters, Temperature measurement, Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers",
author = "Antonio Malacarne and Christian Neumeyr and Wouter Soenen and Fabio Falconi and Claudio Porzi and Timo Aalto and J. Rosskopf and Johan Bauwelinck and Antonella Bogoni",
year = "2018",
month = "5",
day = "1",
doi = "10.1109/JLT.2017.2782882",
language = "English",
volume = "36",
pages = "1527--1536",
journal = "Journal of Lightwave Technology",
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}

Malacarne, A, Neumeyr, C, Soenen, W, Falconi, F, Porzi, C, Aalto, T, Rosskopf, J, Bauwelinck, J & Bogoni, A 2018, 'Optical Transmitter Based on a 1.3-μm VCSEL and a SiGe Driver Circuit for Short-Reach Applications and beyond', Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 36, no. 9, pp. 1527-1536. https://doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2017.2782882

Optical Transmitter Based on a 1.3-μm VCSEL and a SiGe Driver Circuit for Short-Reach Applications and beyond. / Malacarne, Antonio; Neumeyr, Christian; Soenen, Wouter; Falconi, Fabio; Porzi, Claudio; Aalto, Timo; Rosskopf, J.; Bauwelinck, Johan; Bogoni, Antonella.

In: Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 36, No. 9, 01.05.2018, p. 1527-1536.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Optical Transmitter Based on a 1.3-μm VCSEL and a SiGe Driver Circuit for Short-Reach Applications and beyond

AU - Malacarne, Antonio

AU - Neumeyr, Christian

AU - Soenen, Wouter

AU - Falconi, Fabio

AU - Porzi, Claudio

AU - Aalto, Timo

AU - Rosskopf, J.

AU - Bauwelinck, Johan

AU - Bogoni, Antonella

PY - 2018/5/1

Y1 - 2018/5/1

N2 - Long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (LW-VCSELs) with emission wavelength in the 1.3$\mu$m region for intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) optical transmissions, enable longer fiber reach compared to C-band VCSELs, thanks to the extremely low chromatic dispersion impact at that wavelength. A lot of effort has been recently dedicated to novel cavity designs in order to enhance LW-VCSELs modulation bandwidth to allow higher data rates. Another approach to further improve VCSEL-based intensity modulation speed consists of making use of dedicated driver circuits implementing feed forward equalization (FFE). In this manuscript we present a transmitter assembly incorporating a 4-channel 0.13-$\mu$m SiGe driver circuit wire-bonded to a novel dual 1.3$\mu$m-VCSEL array. The short-cavity Indium Phosphide (InP) Buried Tunnel Junction (BTJ) VCSEL design minimizes both the photon lifetime and the device parasitic currents. The integrated driver circuit requires 2.5 V supply voltage only due to the implementation of a pseudo-balanced regulator, it includes a 2-tap asymmetric FFE where magnitude, sign, relative delay and pulse width distortion (PWD) of the taps can be modified. Through the proposed transmitter, standard single-mode fiber reach of 20 km and 4.5 km respectively for 28 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s data rate has been demonstrated with state-of-the-art power consumption. Transmitter performance has been analyzed through pseudorandom bit sequences of both 27-1 and 231-1 length and the additional benefit due to the use of the driver circuit has been discussed in detail. A final comparison with state-of-the-art VCSEL drivers is also included.

AB - Long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (LW-VCSELs) with emission wavelength in the 1.3$\mu$m region for intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD) optical transmissions, enable longer fiber reach compared to C-band VCSELs, thanks to the extremely low chromatic dispersion impact at that wavelength. A lot of effort has been recently dedicated to novel cavity designs in order to enhance LW-VCSELs modulation bandwidth to allow higher data rates. Another approach to further improve VCSEL-based intensity modulation speed consists of making use of dedicated driver circuits implementing feed forward equalization (FFE). In this manuscript we present a transmitter assembly incorporating a 4-channel 0.13-$\mu$m SiGe driver circuit wire-bonded to a novel dual 1.3$\mu$m-VCSEL array. The short-cavity Indium Phosphide (InP) Buried Tunnel Junction (BTJ) VCSEL design minimizes both the photon lifetime and the device parasitic currents. The integrated driver circuit requires 2.5 V supply voltage only due to the implementation of a pseudo-balanced regulator, it includes a 2-tap asymmetric FFE where magnitude, sign, relative delay and pulse width distortion (PWD) of the taps can be modified. Through the proposed transmitter, standard single-mode fiber reach of 20 km and 4.5 km respectively for 28 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s data rate has been demonstrated with state-of-the-art power consumption. Transmitter performance has been analyzed through pseudorandom bit sequences of both 27-1 and 231-1 length and the additional benefit due to the use of the driver circuit has been discussed in detail. A final comparison with state-of-the-art VCSEL drivers is also included.

KW - Access networks

KW - Bandwidth

KW - BiCMOS integrated circuits

KW - Driver circuits

KW - Modulation

KW - Optical fiber

KW - Optical intensity modulation

KW - Optical interconnections

KW - Optical transmitters

KW - Temperature measurement

KW - Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

U2 - 10.1109/JLT.2017.2782882

DO - 10.1109/JLT.2017.2782882

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85038863836

VL - 36

SP - 1527

EP - 1536

JO - Journal of Lightwave Technology

JF - Journal of Lightwave Technology

SN - 0733-8724

IS - 9

ER -