SiGe driver circuit with high output amplitude operating up to 23 Gb/s

A high-speed driver circuit is presented with special regard to layout aspects. The IC, which was fabricated in an advanced SiGe bipolar technology, was developed for driving external modulators in a 20 Gb/s fiber-optic time division multiplex transmission system but can also be used as an output stage of multipurpose pulse generators. Measurements on mounted chips show clear eye diagrams up to 23 Gb/s data rate and high single-ended and differential output swings of 3.5 and 7 V/sub p-p/, respectively, at 50 /spl Omega/ external load. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the highest voltage swing reported so far for a silicon-based driver circuit at comparable operating speed.