Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the technical problems that the existing differential modulator has high power consumption and the performance is easy to be influenced by voltage, the invention provides the low-power-consumption differential modulator and the optical chip, which have the advantages of lower power consumption and better performance effect.
First aspect
The invention provides a low-power consumption differential modulator, comprising: the first bias voltage link, the second bias voltage link, the driver and the terminal resistor are arranged side by side;
the first bias voltage link comprises a first signal output port, a first traveling wave electrode, a first inductor and a first bias electrode which are sequentially connected; the second bias voltage link comprises a second signal output port, a second traveling wave electrode, a second inductor and a second bias electrode which are sequentially connected and arranged;
the first signal output port and the second signal output port are respectively connected with the driver;
one end of the terminal resistor is electrically connected with the first traveling wave electrode, and the other end of the terminal resistor is electrically connected with the second traveling wave electrode.
Specifically, the primary concept of the invention is to adjust the connection structure of the differential modulator circuit according to the purpose of the termination resistor, so as to reduce the overall operation power consumption of the modulator under the condition of ensuring the function of the device. One aspect of the concept is that two ends of the terminal resistor are respectively connected with the first traveling wave resistor and the second traveling wave resistor to form a radio frequency loop; the other aspect of the conception is that the voltage applied to the two ends of the terminal resistor is basically the same through the structural design of the differential modulator, so that the bias voltage cannot pass through the terminal resistor to generate additional power loss, and the terminal resistor of the low-power-consumption differential modulator provided by the invention can greatly reduce the power loss while realizing the function of a radio frequency loop. In addition, the first inductor and the second inductor have the function of blocking radio frequency signal leakage, so that the power consumption of the whole differential modulator is reduced, and meanwhile, the strength of the radio frequency signal can be ensured.
Further, a first bias voltage V1 and a second bias voltage V2 are applied through the first bias electrode and the second bias electrode, respectively.
Specifically, the invention applies the first bias voltage V through the first bias electrode 1 And a second bias voltage V applied by the second bias electrode 2 Acts on the first signal output port and the second signal output port of the driver respectively, thereby realizing voltage bias to the driver. At the same time, the first bias voltage V 1 And a second bias voltage V 2 And also for powering the drive.
Further, the overall resistance R of the first bias voltage link 1 An overall resistance value R of the second bias voltage link 2 The relationship exists: v (V) 1 /R 1 =V 2 /R 2 。
Specifically, according to the inventive concept presented in the foregoing of the present invention, the first bias voltage V 1 And a second bias voltage V 2 The voltages across the termination resistor should be substantially uniform, thereby ensuring a first bias voltage V 1 And a second bias voltage V 2 And in the working process, the terminal resistor is not needed, so that the device efficiency is improved. In an ideal state, the first signal output port, the first traveling wave electrode, the first inductor, the corresponding second signal output port and the second traveling wave electricity in the first bias voltage link provided by the inventionThe pole and the second inductor are the same component. Thus, in an ideal state, the first bias voltage V 1 =second bias voltage V 2 Because the theoretical resistance values of the same device are the same, the voltage drop of the first bias voltage link at the terminal resistor end is the same as the voltage drop of the second bias voltage link at the terminal resistor end, and further, the bias voltage is ensured not to generate power consumption at the terminal resistor. It is easy to understand that V 1 /R 1 =V 2 /R 2 For balancing the bias voltage applied by the driver and the bias voltage applied by the termination resistor. In the working process of the low-power consumption differential modulator provided by the invention, the integral resistance R of the first bias voltage link is influenced by factors such as process, operation working condition and the like 1 And the overall resistance value R of the second bias voltage link 2 Not entirely in agreement with the theoretical values. Thus, the invention establishes V 1 /R 1 =V 2 /R 2 Is the integral resistance R of the first bias voltage link 1 And the overall resistance value R of the second bias voltage link 2 In the case of a difference, the first bias voltage V 1 And a second bias voltage V 2 Will be according to R 1 And R is 2 The voltage value of the first bias electrode finally applied to the first signal output port and the voltage value of the second bias electrode finally applied to the second signal output port are adjusted within a controllable range, so that the function of the low-power-consumption differential modulator provided by the invention is ensured.
Further, characteristic impedance of the driver, the first traveling wave electrode, the second traveling wave electrode and the termination resistor are matched.
Specifically, the characteristic impedance is also called characteristic impedance, and by matching the characteristic impedance of the driver, the first traveling wave electrode, the second traveling wave electrode and the terminal resistor, the high-frequency signal does not generate impedance discontinuity or node reflection problem in a radio frequency loop formed by the first signal output port, the first traveling wave electrode, the terminal resistor and the second signal output port of the second traveling wave electrode, so that the performance of the differential modulator is improved.
Further, the overall resistance R of the first bias voltage link 1 Is equal to the whole resistance R of the second bias voltage link 2 。
Specifically, as a preferred embodiment, the overall resistance R of the first bias voltage link 1 The overall resistance value R of the second bias voltage link 2 I.e. first bias voltage V 1 =second bias voltage V 2 Therefore, no bias voltage is applied to the two ends of the terminal resistor, and the power consumption of the differential modulator provided by the invention is minimum.
Further, the driver has a voltage monitoring function.
Specifically, according to relation V 1 /R 1 =V 2 /R 2 The bias voltages ultimately applied at the driver first and second signal output ports should meet the expectations. Therefore, the driver also has a voltage monitoring function.
Further, when the bias voltage finally applied to the driver does not meet the practical requirement, feedback is performed so as to apply the first bias voltage V to the first bias electrode and/or the second bias electrode 1 And/or a second bias voltage V 2 And (5) adjusting.
Further, the differential modulator further comprises a voltage input end, and the voltage input end is respectively connected with the first bias electrode and the second bias electrode.
In particular, the invention can make the first bias voltage V by the action of the voltage input end 1 And a second bias voltage V 2 The consistency is achieved, and the performance of the differential modulator is improved.
In some embodiments, the differential modulator is a silicon-based modulator or a III-V modulator.
Further, the first signal output port and the first traveling wave electrode and the second signal output port and the second traveling wave electrode are connected through metal wire bonding or chip reverse bonding.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides an optical chip comprising any one of the low power differential modulators provided in the first aspect.
In summary, the differential modulator and the optical chip provided by the invention have at least the following advantages that 1, through the optimization of the structure of the differential modulator, the structure of the termination resistor can be simplified, and the power consumption of the differential modulator can be greatly reduced while the dual-channel radio frequency loop is realized; 2. the performance and the power consumption of the differential modulator can be effectively balanced through the adaptation of the bias voltage and the overall resistance of the bias voltage link; 3. through the use of the detector and the packaging technology, the risk resistance of the differential modulator can be further improved, and the service life is longer.
Detailed Description
The present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 2.
The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings and examples, in order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
In order to make the technical point of the present invention easier to understand, the prior art of the present invention will be explained with reference to fig. 1. In the prior art the bias voltage is applied through the counter electrode 70, whereas the first traveling wave electrode 41, the first counter resistor 51, the second counter resistor 52 and the second traveling wave electrode 42 form a radio frequency loop. Meanwhile, the comparative inductor 60 is used to prevent leakage of the radio frequency signal. However, since the bias voltage passes through the first resistor 51 and the second resistor 52 at the same time, additional power loss is generated, and heat dissipation is also generated, which affects the device performance.
Referring to fig. 2, a schematic structure of a differential modulator according to an embodiment of the invention shown in fig. 2 is shown.
Specifically, one of the primary conception points of the differential modulator provided by the present invention is to improve the termination resistor 50, and it can be seen from fig. 1 that two ends of the termination resistor 50 are respectively connected to the first traveling wave electrode 41 and the second traveling wave electrode 42, and the first traveling wave electrode 41 and the second traveling wave electrode 42 respectively implement signal input through the first signal output port 31 and the second signal output port 32, and the first signal output port 31 and the second signal output port 32 are connected to the driver 20, and the driver 20 obtains signal input through the driver signal input port 10. The signal input ports of the two external drivers 20 adopt a double-end input mode and respectively correspond to the first traveling wave electrode 41 and the second traveling wave electrode 42, so that the first traveling wave electrode 41, the terminal resistor 50 and the second traveling wave electrode 42 form a radio frequency loop. Referring to fig. 2, when the bias voltage is applied to the first bias voltage link and the second bias voltage link, the bias voltage does not pass through the termination resistor 50 and generate additional consumption, and the bias voltage applied by the prior art must pass through the first comparison resistor 51 and the second comparison resistor 52 and generate additional consumption and additional heat generation, compared to the prior art, because the voltage difference across the termination resistor 50 is substantially 0.
In some embodiments, the present invention further provides a difference compared to the prior art, in that the present invention improves the prior art double-ended input single-ended output differential circuit into a double-ended input double-ended output differential circuit, and the present invention provides a double-ended output, namely, the comparison inductor 60 and the comparison electrode 70 at the single-ended output of fig. 2, the first inductor 61 and the first bias electrode 71 connected at the first traveling wave electrode 41, and the second inductor 62 and the second bias electrode 72 connected at the second traveling wave electrode 42, so that the performance of the differential modulator provided by the present invention is better.
Further, the characteristic impedances of the driver 20, the first traveling wave electrode 41, the second traveling wave electrode 42 and the termination resistor 50 are matched, so that the high-frequency signal does not generate the problem of discontinuous impedance or node reflection in the radio frequency loop formed by the first signal output port 31, the first traveling wave electrode 41, the termination resistor 50 and the second signal output port 32 of the second traveling wave electrode 42, thereby improving the performance of the differential modulator.
In some embodiments, the overall resistance value r1=the overall resistance value R2 of the first bias voltage link, that is, the first bias voltage v1=the second bias voltage V2, so that no bias voltage is applied to the two ends of the termination resistor 50, and therefore, the differential modulator provided by the invention has the lowest power consumption.
Further, according to the relationship V1/r1=v2/R2, the bias voltages finally applied at the first signal output port 31 and the second signal output port 32 of the driver 20 should meet expectations. Therefore, the driver also has a voltage monitoring function. When the bias voltage finally applied to the driver does not meet the practical requirement, feedback is performed so as to apply a first bias voltage V to the first bias electrode and/or the second bias electrode 1 And/or a second bias voltage V 2 And (5) adjusting.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more detailed description of the invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present invention may be better understood. It should be noted that it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and adaptations of the invention can be made without departing from the principles of the invention and these modifications and adaptations are intended to be within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.