No abstract

We report on the performance of a 3.2 Gb/s VCSEL driver implemented in foundry n-well 0.18µm CMOS technology. The VCSEL driver utilizes a novel push-pull circuit topology that pushes and pulls modulation current into and out of the VCSEL cavity thus producing symmetric rising and falling edges. Using a commercial VCSEL with a threshold current of 1.2 mA and a slope efficiency of 0.3 mW/mA, the circuit was operated at 1.25, 2.5 and 3.2 Gb/s and produced 2.5 mW of average optical power.

A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) driver design that utilizes a novel push-pull circuit topology is described. The VCSEL driver design can provide both a current pushing and a current pulling mechanism and therefore is capable of producing symmetric rise and fall times. The design was implemented in a 0.18-microm foundry n-well complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology and operates at data rates up to 2.5 Gb/s with a power consumption of 45 mW at an average optical output power of 1 mW.