SYSTEM INTEGRATION OF OPTICAL-DEVICES AND ANALOG CMOS AMPLIFIERS

Monolithic system integration of optical components, photodetectors, a nd analog transimpedance CMOS amplifiers is presented. An advanced SWA MI LOCOS technique, based on a submicron CMOS process is applied. Diff erent optical devices including waveguides, beam splitters, interferom eters and mirrors have been integrated using this technique. The optic al system consists of a SiON layer deposited on 2-mum oxide. The waveg uides are made of structured SiO2 layers on top of the SiON layer. Lea ky wave or butt coupled photodiodes and phototransistors are used as l ight detectors. The photocurrents are amplified by low-noise CMOS tran simpedance amplifiers with high sensitivity. They were designed for a large dynamic range of photocurrents together with short recovery time s and low noise. Their reliability and yield were optimized with new C AD tools.