5 Gb/s Optical Transceiver for MEMS Tunable HCG-VCSEL in 65 nm CMOS

A 5 Gb/s optical transceiver design for a MEMS-Tunable 3rd-Generation VCSEL in 65 nm CMOS process operating at a lasing wavelength of 1060 nm is presented. Two approaches to drive the laser, namely common-anode (CA) and common-cathode (CC) VCSEL driver topologies, were explored. For the CC VCSEL driver wherein the VCSEL is powered by the chip, extended drain MOS (EDMOS) transistors were used as they can handle higher voltages unlike the standard transistors from the process. The system with the CA VCSEL driver resulted in a higher operating speed of up to 8 Gb/s and a higher energy efficiency of 1.1356 pJ/b, as compared to the system with the CC VCSEL driver that achieved a speed of up to 6 Gb/s and an energy efficiency of 3.668 pJ/b.