Demonstration of a digital CMOS driver codesigned and integrated with a broadband silicon photonic switch

A custom 90-nm bulk digital CMOS switch driver is codesigned and integrated with a silicon photonic switch. A photonic device model is created within the electronic design environment, facilitating driver optimization and performance evaluation prior to fabrication. The fabricated drivers implemented in two variations produce transition times as low as 50 ps and generate open eye diagrams using supply voltages ranging from 0.8 to 5 V. The driver is hybrid integrated with a broadband low-power silicon photonic 2 × switch, based on a modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The switch has demonstrated operation over 100 nm of spectral bandwidth with less than-17-dB crosstalk, greater than 25 °C tolerance to temperature variations, and compatibility with 1-V driving signals. The integration demonstrates the interoperability of the switch and driver, which together achieve transition times below 4 ns and average power consumption of 2 mW. Finally, throughput bandwidth of 160 Gb/s is demonstrated for all switch configurations via eye diagrams and bit error rate curves.