A hybridized optical thyristor-CMOS receiver for optoelectronic applications

We present a sensitive digital receiver for optoelectronic interconnects, consisting of a differential pair of optical thyristors with a GaAs-AlGaAs CMOS comparator amplifier. The thyristor pair receives a dual-rail code light input, and switches consequently to either its electrical low state or its electrical high state. This generates a differential output of 360 mV, which is sensed and latched by a dedicated high input impedance, high speed CMOS comparator amplifier. A functional operation of 50 Mb/s is demonstrated.