An 80-Gb/s optoelectronic delayed flip-flop IC using resonant tunneling diodes and uni-traveling-carrier photodiode

This paper describes an 80-Gb/s optoelectronic delayed flip-flop (D-FF) IC that uses resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) and a uni-traveling-carrier phot odiode (UTC-PD). A circuit design that considers the ac currents passing th rough RTDs and UTC-PD is key to boosting circuit operation speed. A monolit hically fabricated IC operated at 80 Gb/s with a low power dissipation of 7 .68 mW, The operation speed of 80 Gb/s is the highest among ail reported fl ip-flops. To clarify the maximum operation speed, we analyze the factors li miting circuit speed. Although the bandwidth of UTC-PD limits the maximum s peed of operation to 80 Gb/s at present, the circuit has the potential to o ffer 100-Gb/s-class operation.