60 GHz Analog Radio-Over-Fiber Single Sideband Transmitter Chipset With 55 nm SiGe BiCMOS Driver RFIC and Silicon Photonics Modulator PIC

• Published in: Journal of lightwave technology 2023-03, p.1-7
• Main Authors: Singh, Nishant, Torfs, Guy, Van Kerrebrouk, Joris, Broucke, Reinier, Demeester, Piet, Yin, Xin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amplitude modulation; BiCMOS integrated circuits; Impedance; Integrated optics; Layout; Microwave amplifiers; Microwave photonics; Millimeter wave communication; Millimeter wave radar; Optical transmitters; Radiofrequency integrated circuits; Silicon photonics
• ISSN: 0733-8724
• DOI: 10.1109/JLT.2023.3262124

An all-silicon analog radio-over-fiber transmitter chipset is presented for narrowband operation in the unlicensed 60 GHz V-band for use in low-cost and low-power distributed antenna systems. The chipset consists of a low-noise high-speed quadrature driver RFIC and an EAM based single-sideband I/Q modulator PIC. Resonant matching is used to drive the EAMs which provides 6 dB more gain compared to an on-chip 50 \Omega resistive termination. A further 6 dB improvement is had by placing the quadrature hybrid on the RFIC before the output stages compared to implementations that place the hybrid on the PIC. The RFIC consists of a low-noise input stage, gain stages, a hybrid coupler and two output stages while the PIC consists of parallel electro-absorption modulators and thermo-optic phase shifters. A sideband suppression ratio of 25 dB is demonstrated with a full chipset size of 1.1 mm^{2} and a power consumption of 45 mW. Succesful optical back-to-back experiments were conducted using various QAM signals.