Beyond 200Gb/s driver design

High-speed optical links require high bandwidth and linear amplifiers to drive the optical modulator or a laser. As the baud rate of optical transceivers increases the BW of the driver should increase, too. Like power amplifiers, linearity, power efficiency, and output voltage swing are the key metrics for an optical driver. Therefore, multiple common design techniques have been employed in the design of power amplifiers and drivers. In this talk, the basic requirements of optical drivers will be reviewed, and the latest design techniques for high-speed drivers will be presented.