Seminars Fall 2002

Abstract:

Integrated circuit front ends are used extensively in both research and commercial applications of radiation detectors. Examples range from particle physics, where modern detectors involve tens of millions of sensors accumulating data at rates of terabytes per second, to handheld nuclear medicine probes used to guide surgery. Key circuit design goals are: power-constrained front-end noise optimization, high precision voltage and time measurements in a mixed-signal VLSI environment, radiation tolerance, and high-density interconnect to the sensors. This talk will describe some CMOS circuit techniques developed to achieve these goals. The expected impact of CMOS scaling on future analog performance will also be discussed.

Slides of the talk

Abstract:

The growth of the semiconductor IC industry over the past few decades has been fueled by continued scaling of transistors to enable higher packing density, faster circuit speed, and lower power dissipation. New materials and device structures are needed to continue the CMOS performance trend. In this talk, I will discuss some of the technology options for nano-scale CMOS technology. These options include ultra-thin channel single- and double-gate MOSFETs and alternative materials for the channels and gate stacks.

Abstract:

This talk will give an overview of well-known signal processing techniques used in lower speed wireline and wireless applications, applied to high-speed optical communications. After an introduction on today's optical network architecture and optical channel impairments, we review modulation techniques for optical communications, fiber equalization, forward error correction, with special emphasis on VLSI implementation.

Abstract:

Optical transmission systems based on 40 Gb/s E-TDM are nearing their commercial introduction. The push for higher payload date rate has spurred interest in optical systems with single-channel capacity beyond 40 Gb/s. Reaching such high data rates will require further improvements not only in electronics, but also in packaging, O/E-E/O conversion and measurements. In our talk, we will focus on the electronics and give an overview of the strengths of different semiconductor technologies needed to build transmitters and receivers at 40 Gb/s and beyond. We will give a number of analog and digital circuit examples, mainly based on InP and SiGe HBT's.