Abstract: A standard CMOS optical interconnect is proposed, including an octagonal-annular emitter, a field oxide, metal 1-PSG/BPSG–metal 2 dual waveguide, and an ultra high-sensitivity optical receiver integrated with a fingered P+/N-well/P-sub dual photodiode detector. The optical interconnect is implemented in a Chartered 3.3-V 0.35-μm standard analog CMOS process with two schemes for the research of the substrate noise coupling effect on the optical interconnect performance: with or without a GND-guardring around the emitter. The experiment results show that the optical interconnect can work at 100 kHz, and it is feasible to implement optical interconnects in standard CMOS processes.

Keywords: optical interconnect