A low noise transimpedance amplifier for optical receiver

In this paper, a regulated cascode (RGC) structure and a shunt-feedback transimpedance amplifier are cascaded. By analyzing the average input-referred noise current, this paper used the method of adjusting the metal-oxide-semiconductor size and increasing the transimpedance gain to optimize the circuit noise characteristics without introducing redundant structures and noise sources. The measured results demonstrated that when the photodetector capacitance is 300 pF and the supply voltage is 1.8 V, the fabricated transimpedance amplifier has a transimpedance gain of 59.5 dBΩ and a -3 dB bandwidth of 4 GHz. Simultaneously, the average input-referred noise current spectral density is less than 7 pA/√Hz, and the data rate is as high as 5 Gb/s. The circuit takes advantage of the traditional shunt-feedback transimpedance amplifier and introduces a RGC structure between it and the input terminal as a current buffer structure. A π-type matching network was formed by adding an inductor between the shunt-feedback amplifier and the introduced RGC. All these structures can effectively improve the gain-bandwidth product of the designed amplifier.