Hybrid-integrated germanium photodetector and CMOS receiver operating at 15 Gb/s

A waveguide-integrated metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector is integrated with an analog 90-nm CMOS receiver. Error-free 15-Gb/s operation is achieved with an efficiency of 4.7 pJ/bit and a sensitivity of 8 dBm average power. © 2011 OSA.