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A laser source driver in 0.18 μ m SiGe BiCMOS technology for high speed quantum key distribution

Yulong Zhu, Xinzhe Wang, Chenxi Zhu, Zhao-Yuan Chen, Zhi-Sheng Huang, Zhanhong Jin, Yang Li, Futian Liang, Sheng‐Kai Liao, Cheng-Zhi Peng, Ge Jin

Published Dec 1, 2022• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) has rapidly developed recently. The repetition frequency of the QKD system increases from tens or hundreds of MHz to GHz. A laser diode (LD) operating in gain-switched mode is widely used as a weak coherent light source in a QKD system. We present an LD driver circuit fabricated in 0.18 μm SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. The circuit can operate at frequencies up to 2.5 GHz, satisfying the requirements of high-speed laser drives in practical QKD systems. The output current of the driver circuit can reach 100 mA when driving an LD whose input equivalent resistance is ∼21 Ω. The extinction ratio of the 1550-nm distributed feedback LD light source driven by our driver circuit reaches 23 dB at the operating frequency of 2.5 GHz, meeting the requirements of QKD systems. This circuit will be used in miniaturized QKD systems.

DOI
10.1063/5.0118778

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Quantum key distribution (QKD) has rapidly developed recently. The repetition frequency of the QKD system increases from tens or hundreds of MHz to GHz. A laser diode (LD) operating in gain-switched mode is widely used as a weak coherent light source in a QKD system. We present an LD driver circuit fabricated in 0.18 μm SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. The circuit can operate at frequencies up to 2.5 GHz, satisfying the requirements of high-speed laser drives in practical QKD systems. The output current of the driver circuit can reach 100 mA when driving an LD whose input equivalent resistance is ∼21 Ω. The extinction ratio of the 1550-nm distributed feedback LD light source driven by our driver circuit reaches 23 dB at the operating frequency of 2.5 GHz, meeting the requirements of QKD systems. This circuit will be used in miniaturized QKD systems.
We present a laser source driver using a 130-nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology, named quantum laser source driver 2018 (QLSD2018). QLSD2018 drives the optical source with a current pulse signal, and the output of QLSD2018 has an adjustable pulse-width from 300 ps to 3.8 ns and an adjustable amplitude up to 70 mA. The data rate is up to 625 Mb/s, and the extinction ratio of the optical source (the 1550-nm distributed feedback laser or the 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) driven by QLSD2018 can reach 26 dB. The test results indicate that QLSD2018 can be used in quantum key distribution experiments. Using QLSD2018 on the transmitter side can significantly simplify the peripheral circuit of the optical source.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) research has yielded highly fruitful results and is currently undergoing an industrialization transformation. In QKD systems, electro-optic modulators are typically employed to prepare the required quantum states. While various QKD systems operating at GHz repetition frequency have demonstrated exceptional performance, they predominantly rely on instruments or printed circuit boards to fulfill the driving circuit function of the electro-optic modulator. Consequently, these systems tend to be complex with low integration levels. To address this challenge, we have introduced a modulator driver integrated circuit in 0.18 µm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The circuit can generate multiple-level driving signals with a clock frequency of 1.25 GHz and a rising edge of ∼50 ps. Each voltage amplitude can be independently adjusted, ensuring the precise preparation of quantum states. The measured signal-to-noise ratio was more than 17 dB, resulting in a low quantum bit error rate of 0.24% in our polarization-encoding system. This work will contribute to the advancement of QKD system integration and promote the industrialization process in this field.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is the most mature method for implementing commercial quantum communications in practice. As part of the miniaturization of practical QKD devices, an integrated electronic system in the 130 nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor process is presented for the QKD sender device. The electronics provide driving signals for the optics at the sender terminal of the quantum channel in QKD and consist mainly of three key modules, namely, a laser diode driver with a high slew rate, a high-speed physical random number generator, and a pre-driver for the electro-optic modulator. The electronic system is designed to operate at frequencies as high as 625-MHz to accommodate the frequency of the QKD system. The high degree of integration is advantageous for miniaturizing QKD sender devices.
Laser Diode Current Driver With (1−t/T)−1(1-t/T)^{-1}(1−t/T)−1 Time Dependence in 0.35- μm\mu\text{m}μm BiCMOS Technology for Quantum Random Number Generators
A laser diode current driver with (1-t/T)-1time dependence in 0.35-μm BiCMOS technology is presented in this brief. It is intended for application in optical quantum random number generators. The current driver is based on the balanced type of a bipolar junction transistor translinear loop with a sawtooth current as one of its inputs. The controllability of the frequency, shape, amplitude, and dc level of the current pulses is provided. The achievable frequency bandwidth of the current pulses is up to 100 MHz. A relative error of the measured waveform at a frequency of 25 MHz is smaller than 3% in 97.4% of the time period of interest.
Laser modulation is a process to modulate the photons to different states in quantum key distribution (QKD) system. A laser modulation driver, which is a pre-driver for the laser modulator, is presented in this paper. The laser modulation driver is implemented in a 130-nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The laser modulation driver can provide a current pulse signal with an adjustable amplitude and an adjustable pulse-width to a distributed power amplifier. The pulse-width of the current signal can be adjusted from 300 ps to 3800 ps, the maximum adjustable amplitude is 14.4 mA, and the data rate can reach 625 Mb/s. According to the test results, the laser modulation driver can meet the requirements of the electro-optic modulator (EOM) in QKD system, and it can be used in the laser modulation circuit in QKD experiments.
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) System is based on the decoy state method and a time reversed Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) protocol. Stringent requirements for the central wavelength, line width and optical power of the laser source are required in MDI-QKD. In order to satisfy above requirements, this work proposes a high-precision laser diode (LD) driver, which consists of a temperature control module and an optical power control module, moreover, the outgoing laser needs to be injection locked first. Through laboratory tests, the wavelength jitter of the laser is 0.37pm, the −3dB spectrum width is 0.0170nm and the optical power fluctuation reaches 0.01dB. The results indicate that the designed LD driver meets the requirements of MDI-QKD.