A 14 Gbps On-/Off- Keying Modulator in GaAs HBT Technology

A proof of concept on-/off- keying (OOK) modulator is designed and implemented in a commercial heterojunction bipolar transistors IC process. The modulator circuit consists of an amplifier/latch structure, which is used as an OOK modulator for the first time. One of its advantages is that the topology may be implemented in both field effect transistor and bipolar technology. The measurement results correspond well with simulation and show that the modulator is capable of handling carrier frequencies up to 28 GHz, and data rates up to 14 Gbps. The isolation of the modulator in the off-state is better than 27 dB over the whole frequency range.