Improved Signal Integrity at 64 Gbps in a 130-nm SiGe Optical Receiver With Through-Silicon Vias

This paper provides a comparative study of packaging features of a high-speed silicon-germanium (SiGe) integrated circuit (IC). Two variants of a 64-Gb/s optical receiver (ORX) were fabricated in a 130-nm BiCMOS process, one including through-silicon vias (TSVs) for ground connections and one required wirebonds for ground connections. The role of TSVs is simulated for improved bandwidth at each stage by investigating added parasitic components in a specific packaging scheme as well as thermal performance. The TSV is shown to offer 25% more eye opening at 64 Gbps and 2 orders of magnitude improvement in bit-error rate (BER).