Analog performance of an ultrafast sampled-time all-optical fiber XPM wavelength converter

Analog performance of an all-optical ultrafast wavelength converter is measured and reported for the first time. The wavelength-conversion process is based on nonlinear cross-phase modulation in an optical fiber combined with an optical filter to convert phase modulation to amplitude modulation. The spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of the converter is measured to be 82 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/. We define a new metric called the SFDR power penalty, which measures the degradation in SFDR relative to baseline the back-to-back analog optical link. The SFDR power penalty was measured to be 5 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/ and is shown to be a function of the input optical power. This metric is used to characterize the linear region of the optical wavelength converter.     

Analog characterization of low-voltage MQW traveling-wave electroabsorption modulators

In this paper, high-speed traveling-wave electroabsorption modulators (TW-EAMs) with strain-compensated InGaAsP multiple quantum wells as the absorption region for analog optical links have been developed. A record-high slope efficiency of 4/V, which is equivalent to a Mach-Zehnder modulator with a V/sub /spl pi// of 0.37 V and a high extinction ratio of > 30 dB/V have been measured. A detailed study of the nonlinearity and the spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is presented. By optimizing the bias voltage and the input optical power, the SFDR can be improved by 10-30 dB. After minimizing the third-order distortion, an SFDR as high as 128 dB-Hz/sup 4/5/ is achieved at 10 GHz. A simple link measurement was made using this EAM and an erbium-doped fiber amplifier and a 50-/spl Omega/ terminated photodetector. At 10 GHz, a link gain of 1 dB is achieved at a detected photocurrent of 7.6 mA with higher gains at lower frequencies. The dependence of link gains on bias voltage, input optical, and radio frequency powers are investigated in detail.     

Sampled-grating DBR laser-based analog optical transmitters

Sampled-grating distributed Bragg grating (SGDBR) laser-based widely tunable optical transmitters are investigated for application in high-performance analog links. More than 45 nm tuning range, 40 dB sidemode suppression ratio, and peak relative intensity noise below -153 dB/Hz is measured. SGDBR lasers integrated with semiconductor optical amplifiers and electroabsorption modulators (EAMs) are characterized with spurious free dynamic range of 125-127 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 4/5/ over the wavelength tuning range. It is also shown how the modulation response of the EAM is affected by the optical power to limit the performance of the analog transmitter.     

Enhanced linear dynamic range of asymmetric Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot modulator/detector

An InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well asymmetric Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot modulator/detector has been developed for radio-over-fiber systems. The measured bandwidth is more than 6 GHz and the total insertion loss is 7.1 dB. The property of nonlinearity and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) has been studied theoretically. By optimizing the operation optical wavelength and bias voltage based on the numerical simulation, fifth-order nonlinearity dominates the intermodulation distortion and an SFDR of 101 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 4/5/ has been achieved experimentally.     

RF transmission over multimode fibers using VCSELs-comparing standard and high-bandwidth multimode fibers

Fiber-optic radio-frequency links have been assembled using oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and multimode fibers. Links with single and multimode VCSELs and with standard and high-bandwidth fibers have been evaluated and compared in the frequency range of 0.1-10 GHz. The best results were obtained for links with a multimode VCSEL and a high-bandwidth fiber. For a 500-m-long link, a spurious free dynamic range of 104 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/ at 2 GHz and 100 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/ at 5 GHz were obtained while allowing for a VCSEL-fiber misalignment of /spl plusmn/12 /spl mu/m. Corresponding numbers for the intrinsic link gain and noise figure are -29 and -33 dB, and 39 and 42 dB at 2 and 5 GHz, respectively. Inferior performance was observed for the standard fiber link due to a larger variation in modal group velocities. This paper also presents a detailed link analysis to identify performance limitations and to suggest modifications for improved performance.     

Enhancement of dynamic range in 1.55-/spl mu/m VCSELs using injection locking

Injection locking is demonstrated to improve the analog performance of long wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. The third-harmonic dynamic range was improved by /spl sim/20 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/ to be /spl sim/94 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/, and the modulation bandwidth was increased two fold. The locking conditions are studied and show that the improvement is present over a wide range of injection power and wavelength detuning.     

10-kV, 123-m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ 4H-SiC power DMOSFETs

10-kV, 123-m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ power DMOSFETs in 4H-SiC are demonstrated. A 42% reduction in R/sub on,sp/, compared to a previously reported value, was achieved by using an 8 /spl times/ 10/sup 14/ cm/sup -3/ doped, 85-/spl mu/m-thick drift epilayer. An effective channel mobility of 22 cm/sup 2//Vs was measured from a test MOSFET. A specific on-resistance of 123 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ were measured with a gate bias of 18 V, which corresponds to an E/sub ox/ of 3 MV/cm. A leakage current of 197 /spl mu/A was measured at a drain bias of 10 kV from a 4H-SiC DMOSFET with an active area of 4.24 /spl times/ 10/sup -3/ cm/sup 2/. A switching time of 100 ns was measured in 4.6-kV, 1.3-A switching measurements. This shows that the 4H-SiC power DMOSFETS are ideal for high-voltage, high-speed switching applications.     

A 12-bit 320-MSample/s current-steering CMOS D/A converter in 0.44 mm/sup 2/

A 12-bit 320-MSample/s current-steering D/A converter in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS is presented. In order to achieve high linearity and spurious free dynamic range (SFDR), a large degree of segmentation has been used, with the seven most significant bits (MSBs) being implemented as equally weighted current sources. A "design-for-layout" approach has allowed this to be done in an area of just 0.44 mm/sup 2/. The increased switching noise associated with a high degree of segmentation has been reduced by a new latch architecture. Differential nonlinearity of /spl plusmn/0.3 LSB and integral nonlinearity of /spl plusmn/0.4 LSB have been measured. Low-frequency SFDR of 95 dB has been achieved, while SFDR at 320 MS/s remains above 70 and 60 dB for input frequencies up to 10 and 60 MHz, respectively. The converter consumes a total of 82 mW from 1.8-V and 3.3-V supplies. The validity of the techniques used has been demonstrated by fabricating the converter in two separate 0.18-/spl mu/m processes with similar results measured for both.     

A direct digital frequency synthesizer with fourth-order phase domain /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ noise shaper and 12-bit current-steering DAC

This paper presents a direct digital frequency synthesizer (DDFS) with a 16-bit accumulator, a fourth-order phase domain single-stage /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ interpolator, and a 300-MS/s 12-bit current-steering DAC based on the Q/sup 2/ Random Walk switching scheme. The /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ interpolator is used to reduce the phase truncation error and the ROM size. The implemented fourth-order single-stage /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ noise shaper reduces the effective phase bits by four and reduces the ROM size by 16 times. The DDFS prototype is fabricated in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology with active area of 1.11mm/sup 2/ including a 12-bit DAC. The measured DDFS spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is greater than 78 dB using a reduced ROM with 8-bit phase, 12-bit amplitude resolution and a size of 0.09 mm/sup 2/. The total power consumption of the DDFS is 200mW with a 3.3-V power supply.     

Characterization of the temperature sensitivity of gain and recombination mechanisms in 1.3-/spl mu/m AlGaInAs MQW lasers

The potential of 1.3-/spl mu/m AlGaInAs multiple quantum-well (MQW) laser diodes for uncooled operation in high-speed optical communication systems is experimentally evaluated by characterizing the temperature dependence of key parameters such as the threshold current, transparency current density, optical gain and carrier lifetime. Detailed measurements performed in the 20/spl deg/C-100/spl deg/C temperature range indicate a localized T/sub 0/ value of 68 K at 98/spl deg/C for a device with a 2.8 /spl mu/m ridge width and 700-/spl mu/m cavity length. The transparency current density is measured for temperatures from 20/spl deg/C to 60/spl deg/C and found to increase at a rate of 7.7 A/spl middot/cm/sup -2//spl middot/ /spl deg/C/sup -1/. Optical gain characterizations show that the peak modal gain at threshold is independent of temperature, whereas the differential gain decreases linearly with temperature at a rate of 3/spl times/10/sup -4/ A/sup -1//spl middot//spl deg/C/sup -1/. The differential carrier lifetime is determined from electrical impedance measurements and found to decrease with temperature. From the measured carrier lifetime we derive the monomolecular ( A), radiative (B), and nonradiative Auger (C) recombination coefficients and determine their temperature dependence in the 20/spl deg/C-80/spl deg/C range. Our study shows that A is temperature independent, B decreases with temperature, and C exhibits a less pronounced increase with temperature. The experimental observations are discussed and compared with theoretical predictions and measurements performed on other material systems.     

Germania-based core optical fibers

Germania-glass-based core silica glass cladding single-mode fibers (/spl Delta/n up to 0.143) with a minimum loss of 20 dB/km at 1.9 /spl mu/m were fabricated by the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) method. The fibers exhibit strong photorefractivity with the type-IIa-induced refractive-index modulation of 2/spl times/10/sup -3/. The Raman gain of 300 to 59 dB/(km/spl middot/W) was determined at 1.07 to 1.6 /spl mu/m, respectively, in a 75 mol.% GeO/sub 2/ core fiber. Only 3 m of such fibers are enough for the creation of a 10-W Raman laser at 1.12 /spl mu/m with a 13-W pump at 1.07 /spl mu/m. Raman generation in optical fiber at a wavelength of 2.2 /spl mu/m was obtained for the first time.     

A high-speed 850-nm optical receiver front-end in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS

A high-speed optical interface circuit for 850-nm optical communication is presented. Photodetector, transimpedance amplifier (TIA), and post-amplifier are integrated in a standard 0.18-/spl mu/m 1.8-V CMOS technology. To eliminate the slow substrate carriers, a differential n-well diode topology is used. Device simulations clarify the speed advantage of the proposed diode topology compared to other topologies, but also demonstrate the speed-responsivity tradeoff. Due to the lower responsivity, a very sensitive transimpedance amplifier is needed. At 500 Mb/s, an input power of -8 dBm is sufficient to have a bit error rate of 3/spl middot/10/sup -10/. Next, the design of a broadband post-amplifier is discussed. The small-signal frequency dependent gain of the traditional and modified Cherry-Hooper stage is analyzed. To achieve broadband operation in the output buffer, so-called "f/sub T/ doublers" are used. For a differential 10 mV/sub pp/ 2/sup 31/-1 pseudo random bit sequence, a bit error rate of 5/spl middot/10/sup -12/ at 3.5 Gb/s has been measured. At lower bit-rates, the bit error rate is even lower: a 1-Gb/s 10-mV/sub pp/ input signal results in a bit error rate of 7/spl middot/10/sup -14/. The TIA consumes 17mW, while the post-amplifier circuit consumes 34 mW.     

A fully integrated 900-MHz CMOS wireless receiver with on-chip RF and IF filters and 79-dB image rejection

A monolithic 900-MHz CMOS wireless receiver with on-chip RF and IF filters and a fully integrated fractional-N synthesizer is presented. Implemented in a standard 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS process and without any off-chip component, the complete receiver has a measured image rejection of 79 dB, a sensitivity of -90 dBm, an IIP3 of -24 dBm, and a noise figure of 22 dB with a power of 227 mW and a chip area of 5.7 mm/sup 2/. The synthesizer achieves a phase noise of -118 dBc/Hz at 600 kHz offset and a settling time of less than 150 /spl mu/s.     

Investigation of a periodically segmented waveguide Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot interferometer for use as a chemical/biosensor

We present a periodically segmented waveguide Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot interferometer (PSW-FPI) intended to be used for tagless real-time chemical/ biological sensing through bulk-material interaction. The differential sensor detects changes in the refractive index (RI) of a sample regardless of its absolute RI value. Experiments with a series of sucrose solutions of various concentrations are compared with theoretical results, and a very good match is found between the two. The theoretical sensitivity limit for a 50-dB-signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) measurement system is estimated as /spl delta/n=3/spl middot/10/sup -7/. For a 29-dB-SNR measurement system, a measured sensitivity limit of /spl delta/n=4/spl middot/10/sup -5/ is comparable with the previously reported sensitivities of label-free real-time optical biosensors (2/spl middot/10/sup -5/-5/spl middot/10/sup -5/). However, the total required sensing length (720 /spl mu/m) of our PSW-FPI sensor is much shorter than that of the previously reported devices (9-20 mm).     

High field-effect mobility in n-channel Si face 4H-SiC MOSFETs with gate oxide grown on aluminum ion-implanted material

We report investigations of Si face 4H-SiC MOSFETs with aluminum (Al) ion-implanted gate channels. High-quality SiO/sub 2/-SiC interfaces are obtained both when the gate oxide is grown on p-type epitaxial material and when grown on ion-implanted regions. A peak field-effect mobility of 170 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s is extracted from transistors with epitaxially grown channel region of doping 5/spl times/10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/. Transistors with implanted gate channels with an Al concentration of 1/spl times/10/sup 17/ cm/sup -3/ exhibit peak field-effect mobility of 100 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s, while the mobility is 51 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s for an Al concentration of 5/spl times/10/sup 17/ cm/sup -3/. The mobility reduction with increasing acceptor density follows the same functional relationship as in n-channel Si MOSFETs.     

Design and fabrication of RESURF MOSFETs on 4H-SiC(0001), (112~0), and 6H-SiC(0001)

Design and fabrication of lateral SiC reduced surface field (RESURF) MOSFETs have been investigated. The doping concentration (dose) of the RESURF and lightly doped drain regions has been optimized to reduce the electric field crowding at the drain edge or in the gate oxide by using device simulation. The optimum oxidation condition depends on the polytype: N/sub 2/O oxidation at 1300/spl deg/C seems to be suitable for 4H-SiC, and dry O/sub 2/ oxidation at 1250/spl deg/C for 6H-SiC. The average inversion-channel mobility is 22, 78, and 68 cm/sup 2//Vs for 4H-SiC(0001), (112~0), and 6H-SiC(0001) MOSFETs, respectively. RESURF MOSFETs have been fabricated on 10-/spl mu/m-thick p-type 4H-SiC(0001), (112~0), and 6H-SiC(0001) epilayers with an acceptor concentration of 1/spl times/10/sup 16/ cm/sup -3/. A 6H-SiC(0001) RESURF MOSFET with a 3-/spl mu/m channel length exhibits a high breakdown voltage of 1620 V and an on-resistance of 234 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/. A 4H-SiC(112~0) RESURF MOSFET shows the characteristics of 1230 V-138 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/.     

High detectivity InGaN-GaN multiquantum well p-n junction photodiodes

InGaN-GaN multiquantum well (MQW) p-n junction photodiodes with semi-transparent Ni-Au electrodes were fabricated and characterized. It was found that the fabricated InGaN-GaN p-n junction photodiodes exhibit a 20-V breakdown voltage and a photocurrent to dark current contrast ratio of /spl sim/10/sup 5/ when a 0.4-V reverse bias was applied. The peak responsivity at 380 nm was 1.28 and 1.76 A/W with a 0.1- and 3-V applied reverse bias, respectively. Furthermore, an internal gain was found from our InGaN-GaN MQW p-n junction photodiodes possibly due to the long-lifetime of GaN based materials. Also, it was found that the low frequency noise of our photodiodes was dominated by the 1/f type noise. For a given bandwidth of 500 Hz, the corresponding noise equivalent power and normalized detectivity D/sup */ were found to be 6.34/spl times/10/sup -13/ W and 4.45/spl times/10/sup 11/ cm/spl middot/Hz/sup 0.5/ W/sup -1/, respectively.     

Photoresponse of (In,Ga)N-GaN multiple-quantum-well structures in the visible and UVA ranges

Characterization and analysis of photoresponse in p-n diodes with embedded (In,Ga)N-GaN multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures are reported. Their dependence on the number of wells and In composition are considered. The influence of device structure on electric fields in the active region and on device responsivity has also been studied. Theoretical considerations as well as photocapacitance and photocurrent measurements show that the position of quantum wells (QWs), either in the quasi-neutral region or in the space charge region, is a critical factor in the collection efficiency. Hence, device photoresponse is not proportional to the number of QWs in photovoltaic mode. Present p-MQW-n devices show a promising performance as UVA and visible photodetectors, with detectivities, D/sup */, higher than 1.2/spl times/10/sup 12/ cm/spl middot/Hz/sup 1/2//spl middot/W/sup -1/ and rejection ratios higher than 10/sup 3/.     

A 0.9-V 12-mW 5-MSPS algorithmic ADC with 77-dB SFDR

An ultra-low-voltage CMOS two-stage algorithm ADC featuring high SFDR and efficient background calibration is presented. The adopted low-voltage circuit technique achieves high-accuracy high-speed clocking without the use of clock boosting or bootstrapping. A resistor-based input sampling branch demonstrates high linearity and inherent low-voltage operation. The proposed background calibration accounts for capacitor mismatches and finite opamp gain error in the MDAC stages via a novel digital correlation scheme involving a two-channel ADC architecture. The prototype ADC, fabricated in a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process, achieves 77-dB SFDR at 0.9 V and 5MSPS (30 MHz clocking) after calibration. The measured SNR, SNDR, DNL, and INL at 80 kHz input are 50 dB, 50 dB, 0.6 LSB, and 1.4 LSB, respectively. The total power consumption is 12 mW, and the active die area is 1.4 mm/sup 2/.     

Vertical RESURF diodes manufactured by deep-trench etch and vapor-phase doping

A new technique to manufacture vertical reduced surface field (RESURF)/superjunction devices is presented, in which the alternating p-n-junctions in the drift region are formed by a combination of a trench etch and vapor-phase doping process. Electrical measurements on Schottky RESURF diodes exhibit breakdown voltages up to 160 V with an on-resistance of 182 m/spl Omega/.mm/sup 2/ using a 10 /spl mu/m n-type drift region doped at 7.5/spl middot/10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/. We show experimentally that such a device concept is able to display specific on-resistance well below the one-dimensional silicon limit and is a good candidate to manufacture vertical power RESURF MOSFETs.