A 100 Gb/s Ethernet modulator driver module based on coplanar GaAs PHEMT distributed MMIC amplifier

We present a 100 Gb/s Ethernet modulator driver module based on a coplanar GaAs PHEMT 9 section coplanar integrated distributed amplifier. It has a 30 kHz to 67GHz bandwidth suitable for direct 100 Gb/s clocking. Process technology, MMIC design, and module design are described and are neither exotic nor expensive to produce. The MMIC in this module provides 12dB typical gain and 3.5Vpp output voltage. To the author's knowledge this is the broadest bandwidth surface mount module made to date.