A 56-Gbaud 7.3-Vppd Linear Modulator Transmitter with AMUX-Based Reconfigurable FFE and Dynamic Triple-Stacked Driver in 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS

Optical modulators, such as Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs), are emerging as essential components in data center interconnections and long-haul optical communications. To generate high-speed high-extinction ratio (ER) optical signals, optical modulators require high-bandwidth transmitters with large output swings. Moreover, equalization is necessary at the transmitter side to pre-distort the electrical signal and then compensate for high-frequency loss from electrical-optical surface and optical devices. Additionally, with pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signaling such as PAM-4 widely employed owing to its high modulation efficiency, the linearity of transmitters becomes a significant concern.