An auto-gain control transimpedance amplifier with low noise and wide input dynamic range for 10-Gb/s optical communication systems

This paper describes a 10-Gb/s transimpedance amplifier (TIA), fabricated i n a 0.1-mum-p-HEMT technology. To improve the optical overload characterist ics, an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit is included. The measured resu lts show the excellent performance, transimpedance of 63.3 dB Omega (1.46 k Omega), bandwidth of 8.0 GHz, and equivalent input noise current density o f 6.5 pA/rtHz. When the bit error rate is 10(-9), the minimum sensitivity a nd the optical overload are -21.2 dBm, +4.3 dBm, respectively, using a 0.8 A/W pin photodiode (PD). The power dissipation is about 0.5 W from a single -5-V supply. The die area is 1.3 X 1.6 mm(2).