Abstract
This paper presents a 16-channel transimpedance amplifier (TIA) array implemented in a standard $0.18-{\mu}m$ CMOS technology for the applications of panoramic scan LADAR (PSL) systems. Since this array is the front-end circuits of the PSL systems to recover three dimensional image for unmanned vehicles, low-noise and high-gain characteristics are necessary. Thus, we propose a voltage-mode inverter TIA (I-TIA) array in this paper, of which measured results demonstrate that each channel of the array achieves $82-dB{\Omega}$ transimpedance gain, 565-MHz bandwidth for 0.5-pF photodiode capacitance, 6.7-pA/sqrt(Hz) noise current spectral density, and 33.8-mW power dissipation from a single 1.8-V supply. The measured eye-diagrams of the array confirm wide and clear eye-openings up to 1.3-Gb/s operations. Also, the optical pulse measurements estimate that the proposed 16-channel TIA array chip can detect signals within 20 meters away from the laser source. The whole chip occupies the area of $5.0{\times}1.1mm^2$ including I/O pads. For comparison, a current-mode 16-channel TIA array is also realized in the same $0.18-{\mu}m$ CMOS technology, which exploits regulated-cascode (RGC) input configuration. Measurements reveal that the I-TIA array achieves superior performance in optical pulse measurements.
