Design and Performance Evaluation of Multi-Gb/s Silicon Photonics Transmitters for High Energy Physics

Simone Cammarata, Gabriele Ciarpi, Stefano Faralli, Philippe Velha, Guido Magazzù, Fabrizio Palla and Sergio Saponara
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Simone Cammarata: Dipartimento Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università di Pisa, Via G. Caruso 16, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Gabriele Ciarpi: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, L. Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Stefano Faralli: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, L. Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Philippe Velha: Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Istituto TeCIP, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Guido Magazzù: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, L. Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Fabrizio Palla: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, L. Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Sergio Saponara: Dipartimento Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università di Pisa, Via G. Caruso 16, 56122 Pisa, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-15

Abstract: Optical links are rapidly becoming pervasive in the readout chains of particle physics detector systems. Silicon photonics (SiPh) stands as an attractive candidate to sustain the radiation levels foreseen in the next-generation experiments, while guaranteeing, at the same time, multi-Gb/s and energy-efficient data transmission. Integrated electronic drivers are needed to enable SiPh modulators’ deployment in compact on-detector front-end modules. A current-mode logic-based driver harnessing a pseudo-differential output stage is proposed in this work to drive different types of SiPh devices by means of the same circuit topology. The proposed driver, realized in a 65 nm bulk technology and already tested to behave properly up to an 8 MGy total ionizing dose, is hybridly integrated in this work with a lumped-element Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM) and a ring modulator (RM), both fabricated in a 130 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. Bit-error-rate (BER) performances confirm the applicability of the selected architecture to either differential and single-ended loads. A 5 Gb/s data rate, in line with the current high energy physics requirements, is achieved in the RM case, while a packaging-related performance degradation is captured in the MZM-based system, confirming the importance of interconnection modeling.

Keywords: silicon photonics; optical communications; Mach–Zehnder modulator; ring modulator; current-mode logic; CMOS; pseudo-differential; radiation hardness; high energy physics; BER characterization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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