Photonic ICs designed for high RF-performance in PIC100 and especially PIC200 technology must be accompanied by highly optimized and customized electrical ICs that harness this performance and provide the connection to the host system, such as a switch or a server. Close proximity between PIC and EIC is a prerequisite for high bandwidth and signal integrity and relies on compact packaging methods.

Active photonic devices like modulators and PDs, especially with bandwidth >100 GHz for 200 GBd applications demand for very close integration with the RF-amplifier circuits to achieve high signal integrity, low parasitics and reduced interconnect inductance. Therefore, the activities in task 4.5 focus on driver and TIA circuit development in different technologies and for different use cases. While subtask T4.5.1 realizes designs using InP HBT technology for high-speed and high swing circuits, subtask T4.5.3 is targeting driver and TIA designs in SiGe-BiCMOS technology for die-stacking with the PIC. A low-power solution for co-packaging applications using resonant modulator types is developed in T4.5.2. Electrical models from the driver and TIA designs are provided as deliverables for the system-level simulations in T4.2.1. In T4.5.4 a driver and TIA in SiGe-BiCMOS are developed in collaboration with T4.1.4 for the analog optical interconnect demonstrator in T5.4.3.