Ultra-Wide Bandwidth Distributed Amplifiers with Applications to Optoelectronics

Distributed Amplifiers (DAs) remain attractive for future high-bandwidth communication required for AI data center architectures. Design techniques exceeding 160GHz (for more than 200Gb/s per channel) are demanded to reach 800G transmitters. We explore design techniques that improve energy usage in distributed amplifiers. The use of an Active-Bias Termination (ABT) is explored for providing DAs with a broadband load capable of noise enhancement and a flatter gain response when compared to the traditional Resistive Termination (RT). Both ABT and RT DAs are presented to give a direct comparison to the analytical analysis discussed on the shunt-feedback transimpedance load. Techniques for distributed amplifiers that can be applied to monolithically integrated traveling wave Mach-Zehnder Modulators (MZMs) are also explored based on a 45nm CMOS silicon photonic process.