A DC-coupled 50 Gb/s 0.064 pJ/bit thin-oxide level shifter in 28 nm FDSOI CMOS

Abstract

High-speed optical interconnects require compact, low-power driver electronics for optical modulators. Inverter based CMOS driver circuits show very low power consumption. However, the output swing is typically limited to the supply voltage which is typically insufficient for optical modulators, requiring a cascoded output driver and level shifter. In this work, we present a new DC-coupled thin-oxide level shifter topology in a 28 nm FDSOI CMOS technology enabling data rates up to 50 Gb/s with a power efficiency of 0.064 pJ/bit.