The tradeoff between noise, data rate, and power consumption of transimpedance amplifiers for optical receivers

The inverter-based shunt-feedback transimpedance amplifier (TIA) has become an essential building block for high-speed receivers for optical interconnects in advanced technologies due to its low operating voltage and high efficiency. Previously, the design of TIA’s optimal noise is based on the relationship between the photodetector’s capacitance, $$C_{{\mathrm {D}}}$$ , and the TIA’s capacitance, $$C_{{\mathrm {I}}}$$ . In this paper, we present a method to calculate the accurate size of the inverter-based amplifier, feedback resistance $$R_F$$ , and load capacitance $$C_o$$ for the optimal noise. Next, we further discuss the impact of the quality factor, channel length, and input parasitics on these parameters. Our analysis is applied to 65 nm CMOS technology based on MATLAB calculations. The predicted results agree well with the simulation results, offering valuable interpretations and conclusions that reveal the inherent tradeoffs among noise, data rate, and power consumption in the broadband optical TIA.