ECEN689: Special Topics in High-Speed Links Circuits and Systems Spring 2011

Lecture 21: Optical I/O

Sam Palermo Analog & Mixed-Signal Center Texas A&M University

Announcements
Exam 2 is on Friday April 29
Comprehensive, but will focus on lectures 11 and later 60 minutes 1 standard 8.5x11 note sheet (front & back) Bring your calculator Lab solutions and last years exam posted on website

No class next Monday or Tuesday Final Project Report Due Tuesday by 5PM
Email me a soft copy of your report

Project Presentations Tuesday May 10, 8-10AM

Email me your presentation by 7AM
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Agenda
Electrical Channel Issues Optical Channel Optical Transmitter Technology Optical Receiver Technology Optical Integration Approaches

High-Speed Electrical Link System

Channel Performance Impact

Link with Equalization

TX FIR Equalization RX CTLE + DFE Equalization Channel

DTX[N:0]

Deserializer

Serializer

DRX[N:0]

TX Clk Generation (PLL)

RX Clk Recovery (CDR/Fwd Clk)

Channel Performance Impact

High-Speed Optical Link System

Optical interconnects remove many channel limitations

Reduced complexity and power consumption Potential for high information density with wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM)

Optical Channel

Optical Channels
Short distance optical I/O channels are typically either waveguide (fiber)-based or free-space Optical channel advantages
Much lower loss Lower cross-talk Smaller waveguides relative to electrical traces Potential for multiple data channels on single fiber via WDM
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Waveguide (Fiber)-Based Optical Links

Optical fiber loss is specified in dB/km
Single-Mode Fiber loss ~0.25dB/km at 1550nm RF coaxial cable loss ~100dB/km at 10GHz
Optical Fiber Cross-Section

core

n1 For TIR: n1 > n2

cladding n2

Frequency dependent loss is very small

<0.5dB/km over a bandwidth >10THz

Single-Mode Fiber Loss & Dispersion

Bandwidth may be limited by dispersion (pulse-spreading)

Important to limit laser linewidth for long distances (>1km)
[Sackinger]
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Free-Space Optical Links

[Gruber]

Free-space (air or glass) interconnect systems have also been proposed Optical imaging system routes light chip-to-chip
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Optical Transmitter Technology

Optical modulation techniques
Direct modulation of laser External modulation of continuous-wave (CW) DC laser with absorptive or refractive modulators

Optical sources for chip-to-chip links

Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) Electro-Absorption Modulator (EAM) Ring-Resonator Modulator (RRM) Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM)

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Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL)

VCSEL Cross-Section
light output top mirror bottom mirror n-contact

VCSEL L-I-V Curves

oxide layer gain region p-contact

VCSEL emits light perpendicular from top (or bottom) surface Important to always operate VCSEL above threshold current, ITH, to prevent turn-on delay which results in ISI Operate at finite extinction ratio (P1/P0)

ITH = 700A = 0.37mW/mA

Po = (I I TH ) Slope Efficiency = P W I A
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VCSEL Bandwidth vs Reliability

10Gb/s VCSEL Frequency Response [1]

Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) is inversely proportional to current density squared

MTTF =

A e 2 j

EA k

1 1 T j 373

[2]

Steep trade-off between bandwidth and reliability

BW I avg I TH
1. 2.

1 MTTF BW 4

D. Bossert et al, "Production of high-speed oxide confined VCSEL arrays for datacom applications," Proceedings of SPIE, 2002. M. Teitelbaum and K. Goossen, "Reliability of Direct Mesa Flip-Chip Bonded VCSELs," LEOS, 2004. 14

VCSEL Drivers
Current-Mode VCSEL Driver
LVdd Pout
Dummy Load

VCSEL Driver w/ 4-tap FIR Equalization

Tap Synchronization & Multiplexing Vdd = 1V D-1 LVdd = 2.8V
thick oxide devices

Pout IVI-1 IV+ = IDC + D-1I-1 + D0I0 + D1I1 + D2I2

D+ DImod Ibias

D[4:0] [4:0], [4:0]

5:1 I-1[7:0]

x1

D0 Z
0

5:1

x4 I0[7:0]

I0

Current-mode drivers often used due to linear L-I relationship Equalization can be added to extend VCSEL bandwidth for a given current density

D1 Z
-1

5:1

x1 I1[7:0]

I1

D2 Z-2
5:1 x1 I2[7:0]

I2 Ileak IDC[7:0]

Tap Weights = Ix[7:0]

S. Palermo and M. Horowitz, High-Speed Transmitters in 90nm CMOS for High-Density Optical Interconnects," ESSCIRC, 2006.

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Electro-Absorption Modulator (EAM)

QWAFEM Modulator*

*N. Helman et al, Misalignment-Tolerant Surface-Normal Low-Voltage Modulator for Optical Interconnects," JSTQE, 2005.

Absorption edge shifts with changing bias voltage due to the quantum-confined Stark or FranzKeldysh effect & modulation occurs Modulators can be surface-normal devices or waveguide-based Maximizing voltage swing allows for good contrast ratio over a wide wavelength range Devices are relatively small and can be treated as lump-capacitance loads
10 500fF depending on device type

Waveguide EAM [Liu]

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Ring-Resonator Modulator (RRM)

Refractive devices which modulate by changing the interference light coupled into the ring with the waveguide light Devices are relatively small (ring diameters < 20m) and can be treated as lumped capacitance loads (~10fF) Devices can be used in WDM systems to selectively modulate an individual wavelength or as a drop filter at receivers

Optical Device Performance from: I. Young, E. Mohammed, J. Liao, A. Kern, S. Palermo, B. Block, M. Reshotko, and P. Chang, Optical I/O Technology for Tera-Scale Computing," ISSCC, 2009.

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Wavelength Division Multiplexing w/ Ring Resonators

[Rabus]

Ring resonators can act as both modulators and add/drop filters to steer light to receivers or switch light to different waveguides Potential to pack >100 waveguides, each modulated at more than 10Gb/s on a single on-chip waveguide with width <1m (pitch ~4m)

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CMOS Modulator Driver

Simple CMOS-style voltage-mode drivers can drive EAM and RRM due to their small size Device may require swing higher than nominal CMOS supply
Pulsed-Cascode driver can reliably provide swing of 2xVdd (or 4xVdd) at up to 2FO4 data rate
Vdd2

Vbias Pout Pin D

Pulsed-Cascode Driver
INhigh
Vdd Vdd

Vdd2 (2V) gp1

MN3 Vdd

MP1

Negative Pulse Gate

Vdd2

midp
MP2

gp2

out gn2
MN2

Positive Pulse Gate

Vdd Vdd

Vdd MP3

midn
MN1

INlow
Gnd

gn1

S. Palermo and M. Horowitz, High-Speed Transmitters in 90nm CMOS for High-Density Optical Interconnects," ESSCIRC, 2006. 19

Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM)

[Analui]

Refractive modulator which splits incoming light into two paths, induces a voltage-controlled phase shift in the two paths, and recombines the light in or out of phase Long device (several mm) requires driver to drive low-impedance transmission line at potentially high swing (5Vppd) While much higher power relative to RRM, they are less sensitive to temperature variations

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Optical Receiver Technology

Photodetectors convert optical power into current
p-i-n photodiodes Integrated metal-semiconductormetal photodetector
VA VDD RD M2 M1

LA stages

Electrical amplifiers then convert the photocurrent into a voltage signal

Transimpedance amplifiers Limiting amplifiers Integrating optical receiver

RF

TIA

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p-i-n Photodiode
[Sackinger]
=

Responsivity:
pd q I = = 8 105 ( pd ) Popt hc

(mA/mW)

Quantum Efficiency:

pd = 1 e W

Transit-Time Limited Bandwidth:

f 3dBPD = 0.45v sat 2.4 = 2 tr W

Normally incident light absorbed in intrinsic region and generates carriers Trade-off between capacitance and transit-time Typical capacitance between 100-300fF
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Integrated Ge MSM Photodetector

XSEM
Cu Ge SiN waveguide Cu
2 um

SiO2 0.75 um Cu

Cu

Ge SiO2 Silicon nitride

Detector

Very low capacitance: <1 fF Active area: < 2 um2

Lateral Metal-Semiconductor-Metal (MSM Detector) Silicon Nitride Waveguide-Coupled Direct Germanium deposition on oxide
I. Young, E. Mohammed, J. Liao, A. Kern, S. Palermo, B. Block, M. Reshotko, and P. Chang, Optical I/O Technology for TeraScale Computing," IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, 2010.

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Optical Integration Approaches

Efficient cost-effective optical integration approaches are necessary for optical interconnects to realize their potential for improved power efficiency at higher data rates Hybrid integration
Optical devices fabricated on a separate substrate

Integrated CMOS photonics

Optical devices part of CMOS chip
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Hybrid Integration
[Kromer] [Schow] [Mohammed]

Wirebonding

Flip-Chip Bonding Short In-Package Traces

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Integrated CMOS Photonics

SOI CMOS Process [Analui] Optics On Top

Optical Layer

Bulk CMOS Process

[Young]

[Batten]

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Future Photonic CMOS Chip

Unified optical interconnect for on-chip core-to-core and offchip processor-to-processor and processor-to-memory
I. Young, E. Mohammed, J. Liao, A. Kern, S. Palermo, B. Block, M. Reshotko, and P. Chang, Optical I/O Technology for TeraScale Computing," IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2009.

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Conclusion
Thanks for the fun semester!

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