A 12-GS/s track-and-hold amplifier in InP DHBT technology

A 12 GS/s track-and-hold amplifier (THA) for a DSP-based electrical polarization-mode dispersion compensator (e-PMDC) in a 10 GHz optical receiver, featuring a total harmonic distortion (THD) compatible with 6 bit operation on 1 V/sub p-p/ differential input range at -5.2 V supply, has been designed and fabricated in InP/InGaAs/InP double-heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) technology. This THA shows a THD of better than -23 dB for 12 GHz 1 V/sub p-p/ input, corresponding 4 bit resolution, under a differential clock of 12 GHz.