Transition from on-off keying to 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) in VCSEL based optical interconnects allows for an increase of data rates, at the cost of 4.8 dB sensitivity penalty. The resulting strained link budget creates a need for accurate VCSEL models for driver integrated circuit (IC) design and system level simulations. Rate equation based equivalent circuit models are convenient for the IC design, but system level analysis requires computationally efficient closed form behavioral models based Volterra series and neural networks. In this paper we present and compare these models.
We present our recent work on high-speed optical interconnects with advanced modulation formats and directly modulated 850 nm VCSELs. Data transmission at nearly 100 Gbps was achieved with 4-PAM. Forward error correction, equalization and preemphasis are also explored. The system aspects of the advanced modulation formats and their impact on the VCSEL requirements are discussed. Requirements on the optical output power, frequency response and the relative intensity noise are discussed. Finally, co-optimization of the VCSELs and VCSEL driver amplifiers in CMOS and InP technologies is discussed.
Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and multi-mode fibers is the dominating technology for short-reach optical interconnects in datacenters and high performance computing systems at current serial rates of up to 25-28 Gbit/s. This is likely to continue at 50-56 Gbit/s. The technology shows potential for 100 Gbit/s.
The first error-free data transmission beyond 1 km of multi-mode fiber at bit-rates exceeding 20 Gb/s is demonstrated
using a high modulation bandwidth, quasi-single mode (SMSR~20 dB) 850 nm VCSEL. A VCSEL with small ~3 μm
aperture shows quasi-single mode operation with a narrow spectral width. The top mirror reflectivity of the VCSEL is
optimized for high speed and high output power by shallow etching. A combination of narrow spectral width and high optical power reduces the effects of fiber dispersion and fiber and connector losses and enables such a long transmission distance at high bit-rates.
We have explored the possibility to extend the data transmission rate for standard 850-nm GaAs-based VCSELs beyond
the 10 Gbit/s limit of today's commercially available directly-modulated devices. By sophisticated tailoring of the design
for high-speed performance we demonstrate that 10 Gb/s is far from the upper limit. For example, the thermal
conductivity of the bottom mirror is improved by the use of binary compounds, and the electrical parasitics are kept at a
minimum by incorporating a large diameter double layered oxide aperture in the design. We also show that the intrinsic
high speed performance is significantly improved by replacing the traditional GaAs QWs with strained InGaAs QWs in
the active region. The best overall performance is achieved for a device with a 9 μm diameter oxide aperture, having in
a threshold current of 0.6 mA, a maximum output power of 9 mW, a thermal resistance of 1.9 °C/mW, and a differential
resistance of 80 Ω. The measured 3dB bandwidth exceeds 20 GHz, and we experimentally demonstrate that the device is
capable of error-free transmission (BER<10-12) under direct modulation at a record-high bit-rate of 32 Gb/s over 50 m of
OM3 fiber at room temperature, and at 25 Gb/s over 100 m of OM3 fiber at 85 °C. We also demonstrate transmission at
40 Gb/s over 200 m of OM3+ fiber at room temperature using a subcarrier multiplexing scheme with a spectrally
efficient 16 QAM modulation format. All transmission results were obtained with the VCSEL biased at current densities
between 11-14 kA/cm2, which is close to the 10 kA/cm2 industry benchmark for reliability. Finally, we show that by a
further reduction of the oxide capacitance and by reducing the photon lifetime using a shallow surface etch, a record
bandwidth of 23 GHz for 850 nm VCSELs can be reached.
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