Parametric study of modal gain and threshold power density in electrically pumped single-layer organic optical amplifier and laser diode structures

In this paper, a model to calculate the modal gain in organic optical amplifiers and the laser threshold power density in organic laser diode structures is presented. We consider a single-layer design to investigate the dependence of the modal gain and threshold power density on electron and hole mobility, injection barriers, the thickness of the active layer, as well as exciton dissociation at the injecting contacts. A figure of merit is introduced to quantify the influence of absorption by polarons in optical amplifiers. We show that equal charge carrier mobilities are of crucial importance to achieve appreciable gain on the order of 1/cm at a power density of P= 50 kW/cm/sup 2/ for the considered poly[2-methoxy, 5-(2'-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV)-like model material. Increasing the injection barriers to /spl phi//sub b//spl ap/ 0.3 eV decreases the gain marginally but is beneficial in terms of polaron absorption. Regarding modal gain, there is an optimum thickness for the active layer of d/spl ap/ 200 nm, if different devices are compared on the basis of equal power density. We derive power laws for the dependence of modal gain on mobility and power density, which can serve as guidelines for future device design considerations. We determine the maximum allowed polaron absorption cross section /spl sigma//sub abs/ relative to the cross section /spl sigma//sub stim/ for stimulated emission that may not be exceeded to achieve positive net gain necessary for optical amplification. For the most favorable parameters, /spl sigma//sub abs/ has to be at least 20 times smaller than /spl sigma//sub stim/. The dependence of the laser threshold power density on all of the above-mentioned parameters is investigated. We show that, in the optimum case considered, the power density necessary for lasing is 40 times higher than the highest value reported in the literature.     

High-power 1.3-/spl mu/m InGaAsP-InP amplifiers with tapered gain regions

Tapered structures fabricated in InGaAsP-InP 1.3-/spl mu/m quantum-well material have been evaluated as high-gain high-saturation-power amplifiers. The devices, which had a 1-mm-long ridge-waveguide input gain section followed by a 2-mm-long tapered section, demonstrated an unsaturated gain of 26 dB at 2.0 A and about 30 dB at 2.8 A. Saturated output power at 2.8 A was >750 mW. At 2.0-A drive current and /spl ap/10-mW input power, the relative intensity noise of the amplified signal was /spl les/-160 dB/Hz at frequencies /spl ges/2 GHz.     

Chip-level spray cooling of an LD-MOSFET RF power Amplifier

We report here the application of water spray cooling directly to the top surface of a lateral diffused metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (LD-MOSFET) in a 500-MHz RF power amplifier. With the amplifier running in Class A, spray cooling at a flow of 0.14 l/min increases the output power from 66 W to 84 W, and the power-added efficiency increases from 26% to 34%, all at 34 W input. This improvement is attributed to a large spray-induced reduction in junction temperature and total package thermal resistance. At the point of highest measured RF output and DC power dissipation, the reduction in junction temperature and total thermal resistance were estimated to be from /spl ap/214/spl deg/C to /spl ap/115/spl deg/C and from /spl ap/1.5/spl deg/C/W to /spl ap/0.6/spl deg/C/W, respectively, and the maximum spray-induced heat flux was /spl ap/162W/cm/sup 2/. In Class AB, the increase in output power and power-added efficiency are less, /spl ap/8%, but the amplifier can be driven harder before failure occurs. The maximum output in class AB is 79 W compared to 70 W without spray cooling.     

A high-efficiency CMOS +22-dBm linear power amplifier

Modern wireless communication systems require power amplifiers with high efficiency and high linearity. CMOS is the technology of choice for complete systems on a chip due to its lower costs and high integration levels. However, it has always been difficult to integrate high-efficiency power amplifiers in CMOS. In this paper, we present a new class of operation (parallel A&B) for power amplifiers that improves both their dynamic range and power efficiency. A prototype design of the new amplifier was fabricated in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. Measurement results show a PAE that is over 44% and the measured output power is +22 dBm. In comparison to a normal class A amplifier, this new design increases the 1-dB compression point (P1dB) by over 3 dB and reduces dc power consumption by over 50% within the linear operating range.     

Reliability investigation of 0.07-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel

The authors have investigated the reliability performance of G-band (183 GHz) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers fabricated using 0.07-/spl mu/m T-gate InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMTs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel on 3-in wafers. Life test was performed at two temperatures (T/sub 1/ = 200 /spl deg/C and T/sub 2/ = 215 /spl deg/C), and the amplifiers were stressed at V/sub ds/ of 1 V and I/sub ds/ of 250 mA/mm in a N/sub 2/ ambient. The activation energy is as high as 1.7 eV, achieving a projected median-time-to-failure (MTTF) /spl ap/ 2 /spl times/ 10/sup 6/ h at a junction temperature of 125 /spl deg/C. MTTF was determined by 2-temperature constant current stress using /spl Delta/G/sub mp/ = -20% as the failure criteria. The difference of reliability performance between 0.07-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel and 0.1-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with In/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As channel is also discussed. The achieved high-reliability result demonstrates a robust 0.07-/spl mu/m pseudomorphic InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs production technology for G-band applications.     

Low-power pipeline ADC for wireless LANs

In this paper, a 10-bit 40-MS/s analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is presented. A power consumption of 12 mW was achieved by using a time-interleaved and pipelined architecture with shared operational amplifiers. This circuit was fabricated in a 2.5-V 0.25-/spl mu/m technology with metal-oxide-metal capacitors. Experimental results are within design ranges and are in good agreement with simulation data. It turns out that the proposed Nyquist-rate ADC provides a potential solution for low-power high-speed applications, e.g., wireless LANs.     

650-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers: laser properties and reliability investigations

650-nm AlGaInP-AlGaAs-based oxide-confined VCSELs are investigated in dependence on the current aperture size. VCSELs with small aperture (a=5 /spl mu/m) have a maximum continuous-wave (CW) output power of about 1 mW at room temperature. They reach higher operating temperatures (T/sub max/=55/spl deg/C), have narrower beam profiles, less transverse modes, and a higher side mode suppression compared to large aperture VCSELs (a>13 /spl mu/m). The latter devices emit a CW-output power P=3 mW at 20/spl deg/C. Reliability tests of 655-nm devices show at 20/spl deg/C an output power of P/spl ap/0.4 mW over more than 1000 h and at 40/spl deg/C P/spl ap/0.1 mW over 500 h.     

Erbium-doped single- and double-pass Ti:LiNbO3 waveguideamplifiers

Single-pass and double-pass Er-diffused Z- and X-cut Ti:LiNbO₃ waveguide amplifiers, optically pumped at λ _p≈1484 nm, have been investigated. With a 48 mm long Z-cut amplifier device, Er-diffusion doped at 1100°C, 6.7 dB (coupled pump power P_p,c=170 mW) and 14.7 dB (P_p,c=90 mW) net small-signal gain have been achieved with a single-pass and a double-pass configuration, respectively, at the signal wavelength λ_s=1531 nm. A Z-cut sample doped at 1135°C showed a considerably improved behavior. 11.3 dB single-pass net small-signal gain has been obtained (P_p,c=170 mW; sample length 5.7 cm). Theoretical calculations predict gain figures up to 20 dB in single-pass and 40 dB in double-pass Er:Ti:LiNbO₃ amplifiers with increased (realistic) lengths of 10 cm     

Micropower switched capacitor biquadratic cell

The implementation of the double correlated sampling noise reduction technique in conventional strays-insensitive switched capacitor biquad building blocks is described. The function is performed by an offset cancellation circuit which is incorporated into the structure without the use of any additional capacitor, only minor modifications in the switching topology, and one supplementary clock phase. Consequently, a significant reduction of the low-frequency (1/f) noise is made possible and the usual differential amplifiers may be replaced by simple inverting amplifiers operated in class AB, featuring high-speed, low-quiescent power dissipation and low noise. An experimental micropower SC biquadratic filter section designed for `leapfrog' or `follow-the-leader feedback' structures has been developed using high gain (>80 dB) CMOS push/pull inverting amplifiers together with a three-phase clocking sequence. The integrated circuit, implemented in a low-voltage Si-gate CMOS process, achieves excellent accuracy and less than 5 /spl mu/W power dissipation with a 32 kHz sampling rate and /spl plusmn/1.5 V supplies; dynamic range is 66 dB.     

Investigation of transient response in cascaded gain-clamped erbium-doped fibre amplifiers

The maximum power overshoot in gain-clamped erbium-doped fibre amplifier has been modelled and investigated from a laser point of view. It is found that by mismatching the relaxation frequency of cascaded amplifiers the transient power excursion and the relative-intensity noise can be tailored.     

Double-pass copper vapor laser master-oscillator power-amplifier systems: generation of flat-top focused beams for fiber coupling and percussion drilling

In this paper, a compact master-oscillator power-amplifier laser system incorporating telescopic beam expansion in a high-gain double-pass amplifier is presented. A miniature (0.5 W) master-oscillator copper vapor laser is used to efficiently extract over 37 W of high-beam-quality (full transverse coherence) output power from a kinetically enhanced nominally 35-W copper vapor laser at 12-kHz pulse repetition frequency. By configuring the oscillator for low coherence output and using a multimode optical fiber between the oscillator and the double-pass amplifier, a high-power (34 W) low-divergence output beam having a well-defined flat-top far-field beam profile was also produced. The flat-top farfield beam profile arises from control of the spatial coherence of a flat-top near-field beam, rather than the usual techniques for producing flattened Gaussian beams from coherent Gaussian beams. Use of the flat-top focused beam for high-speed percussion drilling of high quality 100-/spl mu/m diameter holes in metals was demonstrated, as well as high-power (34-W average power, 80-kW peak power) damage-free power transmission through 100-/spl mu/m core diameter step-index optical fibers.     

Single Miller capacitor frequency compensation technique for low-power multistage amplifiers

Due to the rising demand for low-power portable battery-operated electronic devices, there is an increasing need for low-voltage low-power low-drop-out (LDO) regulators. This provides motivation for research on high-gain wide-bandwidth amplifiers driving large capacitive loads. These amplifiers serve as error amplifiers in low-voltage LDO regulators. Two low-power efficient three-stage amplifier topologies suitable for large capacitive load applications are introduced here: single Miller capacitor compensation (SMC) and single Miller capacitor feedforward compensation (SMFFC). Using a single Miller compensation capacitor in three-stage amplifiers can significantly reduce the total capacitor value, and therefore, the overall area of the amplifiers without influencing their stability. Pole-splitting and feedforward techniques are effectively combined to achieve better small-signal and large-signal performances. The 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS amplifiers, SMC, and SMFFC driving a 25-k/spl Omega///120-pF load achieve 4.6-MHz and 9-MHz gain-bandwidth product, respectively, each dissipates less than 0.42 mW of power with a /spl plusmn/1-V power supply, and each occupies less than 0.02 mm/sup 2/ of silicon area.     

Design of gain-clamped doped-fiber amplifiers for optimal dynamicperformance

This paper provides a detailed analysis of gain-clamped doped-fiber amplifiers and design guidelines in a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networking environment. A simple dynamic model of the doped-fiber amplifier allows us to derive explicit expressions for the small-signal response, which help identify and optimize the most critical parameters for best dynamic performance. The most important parameter is the pump power, which should be chosen 1-2 dB's above its required open-loop value, with all channels present, for the required signal gain. In an all-optical networking scenario with input power per channel as high as -3 dBm the required pump power may well exceed 20 dBm. Thus optimization of other parameters such as laser wavelength and loop loss are important. For best dynamic performance either the loop loss should be extremely small, implying a very large laser flux, or the laser gain variation in response to a perturbation should be large. Accordingly, the laser wavelength should be placed either close to the unity-gain region of the clamped gain profile, or at its peak. Finally, the small signal model for a chain of clamped amplifiers is provided, and it is shown that long chains are vulnerable to low-frequency input signal perturbations     

Full-CMOS 2-GHz WCDMA direct conversion transmitter and receiver

This paper presents a full-CMOS transmitter and receiver for 2.0-GHz wide-band code division multiple access with direct conversion mixers and a DC-offset cancellation scheme. The direct conversion scheme combined with a multiphase sampling fractional-N prescaler alleviates the problems of the direct conversion transmitter and receiver. Digital gain control is merged into the baseband filters and variable-gain amplifiers to optimize the linearity of the system, reduce the noise, and improve the sensitivity. Variable-gain amplifiers with DC-offset cancellation loop eliminate the DC-offset in each stage. The chip implemented in 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology shows the experimental results of 6 dBm maximum output power with 38-dB adjacent channel power rejection ratio at 1.92 MHz, 50-dB dynamic range, and 363-mW power consumption in the transmitter. The receiver shows -115.4 dBm sensitivity, a 4.0-dB noise figure, and a dynamic range of 80-dB with 396-mW power consumption.     

Low-threshold continuous-wave 1.5-/spl mu/m GaInNAsSb lasers grown on GaAs

We present the first continuous-wave (CW) edge-emitting lasers at 1.5 /spl mu/m grown on GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These single quantum well (QW) devices show dramatic improvement in all areas of device performance as compared to previous reports. CW output powers as high as 140 mW (both facets) were obtained from 20 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 2450 /spl mu/m ridge-waveguide lasers possessing a threshold current density of 1.06 kA/cm/sup 2/, external quantum efficiency of 31%, and characteristic temperature T/sub 0/ of 139 K from 10/spl deg/C-60/spl deg/C. The lasing wavelength shifted 0.58 nm/K, resulting in CW laser action at 1.52 /spl mu/m at 70/spl deg/C. This is the first report of CW GaAs-based laser operation beyond 1.5 /spl mu/m. Evidence of Auger recombination and intervalence band absorption was found over the range of operation and prevented CW operation above 70/spl deg/C. Maximum CW output power was limited by insufficient thermal heatsinking; however, devices with a highly reflective (HR) coating applied to one facet produced 707 mW of pulsed output power limited by the laser driver. Similar CW output powers are expected with more sophisticated packaging and further optimization of the gain region. It is expected that such lasers will find application in next-generation optical networks as pump lasers for Raman amplifiers or doped fiber amplifiers, and could displace InP-based lasers for applications from 1.2 to 1.6 /spl mu/m.     

Design of a low-power 3.5-GHz broad-band CMOS transimpedance amplifier for optical transceivers

This paper describes a novel low-power low-noise CMOS voltage-current feedback transimpedance amplifier design using a low-cost Agilent 0.5-/spl mu/m 3M1P CMOS process technology. Theoretical foundations for this transimpedance amplifier by way of gain, bandwidth and noise analysis are developed. The bandwidth of the amplifier was extended using the inductive peaking technique, and, simulation results indicated a -3-dB bandwidth of 3.5 GHz with a transimpedance gain of /spl ap/60 dBohms. The dynamic range of the amplifier was wide enough to enable an output peak-to-peak voltage swing of around 400 mV for a test input current swing of 100 /spl mu/A. The output noise voltage spectral density was 12 nV//spl radic/Hz (with a peak of /spl ap/25 nV//spl radic/Hz), while the input-referred noise current spectral density was below 20 pA//spl radic/Hz within the amplifier frequency band. The amplifier consumes only around 5 mA from a 3.3-V power supply. A test chip implementing the transimpedance amplifier was also fabricated using the low-cost CMOS process.     

Dynamic behavior of gain-clamped Er:Yb and high concentration Er-doped amplifier

All-optical gain-clamped erbium-ytterbium (Er : Yb)-doped amplifier dynamic response is modeled and investigated. The complex Er:Yb rate equation system is reduced to a single equation. This simplification gives a more intuitive understanding of relevant physical mechanisms of Er:Yb doping. Experiments confirm theoretical assumptions. Results also allow us to describe dynamics in highly doped Er devices such as waveguide amplifiers.     

A new method to suppress harmonics using /spl lambda//4 bias line combined by defected ground structure in power amplifiers

A new /spl lambda//4 bias line combined by a dumb-bell shaped defected ground structure (DGS) is proposed to suppress harmonics in power amplifiers. The proposed DGS bias line maintains the required high impedance even after DGS is inserted, while the width and length of the /spl lambda//4 bias line are broader and shorter than those of conventional bias lines. When the DGS bias line is used in power amplifiers, the third harmonic components as well as the second harmonic are reduced, because of the increased slow-wave effect over wide harmonic band. It is shown that the reduction of the third harmonic component, the improvement of 1 dB compression point, and power added efficiency are 26.5 dB, 0.45 dB, and 9.1%, respectively.     

Dynamic properties of double-pass discrete Raman amplifier with FBG-based all-optical gain clamping techniques

The authors propose and implement a discrete fiber Raman amplifier configured in double-pass scheme together with fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based all-optical feedback. The double-pass amplifiers achieve more than a 30-dB net gain with affordable pump power and guarantee a large margin for gain clamping. The all-optical gain clamping is provided by the lasing wavelength inside the cavity caused by the high reflectivity FBG and wide-band reflector. A stable gain is obtained for large input signal dynamic range of 30 dB. The gain variation is kept below 0.17 dB and the noise figure is flattened at the same time. Also, the authors investigate the Raman gain and noise figure as a function of signal wavelength with the proposed gain clamping technique.     

A low-power SRAM using hierarchical bit line and local sense amplifiers

This paper proposes a low power SRAM using hierarchical bit line and local sense amplifiers (HBLSA-SRAM). It reduces both capacitance and write swing voltage of bit lines by using the hierarchical bit line composed of a bit line and sub-bit lines with local sense amplifiers. The HBLSA-SRAM reduces the write power consumption in bit lines without noise margin degradation by applying a low swing signal to the high capacitive bit line and by applying a full swing signal to the low capacitive sub-bit line. The HBLSA-SRAM reduces the swing voltage of bit lines to V/sub DD//10 for both read and write. It saves 34% of the write power compared to the conventional SRAM. An SRAM chip with 8 K/spl times/32 bits is fabricated in a 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS process. It consumes 26 mW read power and 28 mW write power at 200 MHz with 2.5 V.