A 112 Gb/s PAM4 CMOS Optical Receiver with Sub-pJ/bit Energy Efficiency

We present a 112Gb/s PAM4 optical receiver to meet the requirements of emerging 400G Ethernet standards. Our receiver uses a 35GHz Ge-on-Si- Pdwire-bonded to a 28nm CMOS linear TIA. Measurement results verify target performance at 0.96pJ/bit efficiency, showing the potential for low-cost 100+G/λ optical receivers.