Radiation-hard/high-speed parallel optical links

Abstract We have designed an ASIC for use in a parallel optical engine for a new layer of the ATLAS pixel detector in the initial phase of the LHC luminosity upgrade. The ASIC is a 12-channel VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) array driver capable of operating up to 5 Gb/s per channel. The ASIC is designed using a 130 nm CMOS process to enhance the radiation-hardness. A scheme for redundancy has also been implemented to allow bypassing of a broken VCSEL. The ASIC also contains a power-on reset circuit that sets the ASIC to a default configuration with no signal steering. In addition, the bias and modulation currents of the individual channels are programmable. The performance of the first prototype ASIC up to 5 Gb/s is satisfactory. Furthermore, we are able to program the bias and modulation currents and to bypass a broken VCSEL channel. We are currently upgrading our design to allow operation at 10 Gb/s per channel yielding an aggregated bandwidth of 120 Gb/s. Some preliminary results of the design will be presented.