High-speed III-V HEMT and HBT devices and circuits for ETDM transmission beyond 80 Gbit/s

This work presents an overview of the current status on devices and circuits for electronic time division multiplexing (ETDM) applications with data rates beyond 80 Gbit/s. This paper covers mainly III-V based approaches and highlights the current state-of-the-art, especially with respect to the activities in Europe and with a glimpse on Si(Ge) results. Several device technologies are currently compeeting for high-speed low-power applications at and beyond 80 Gbit/s. These include conventional InP based (D)HBTs, InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs, GaAsSb based HBTs, and SiGe HBTs gives an overview of the evolution of the cut-off frequencies of both SiGe and InP HBT technologies over time. It can be seen, that speed levels beyond 300 GHz are within reach by an increasing number of both III-V and SiGe HBT technologies. In Europe, Infineon showed strong activities towards SiGe HBT. Former Opto+, now Alcatel, demonstrated initial results for 80 Gbit/s operation