A 5 VPP Differential Output Swing MZI Driver Amplifier in 65 nm CMOS for Optoelectronic Applications

Abstract

Mach Zehnder Interferometric (MZI) modulator based optical communication systems are finding increased research interests. With the rapid scaling of technology, obtaining higher output swing required for driving the MZI modulator has become increasingly challenging. To address this issue, this paper demonstrates a driver amplifier for the MZI modulator with a 5 V PP differential swing in 65nm CMOS. Post layout simulation results show that for 5 Gb/s data rate, the driver consumes 308 mW from a 4 V power supply, which is significantly less power consumption compared to previously reported MZI modulator drivers. Simulation results also confirm the driver operation at 10 Gb/s.