A 5 $\mathrm{V}_{\text{pp}}$ 10-Bit $100\ \text{MS} / \mathrm{s}$ Current-Steering DAC as MZM Drivers of PNN Systems

Photonic neural networks (PNNs) mark a significant leap forward for future AI systems. The efficacy of PNNs is significantly dependent on their supporting driving electronics, especially digital-to-analog converters (DACs) to drive optical modulators. In this investigation, we present a 10-bit currentsteering DAC with a high voltage range of 5.54V and operates at 100 MHz, designed using TSMC's T18HVG2 process technology, an ideal choice for this application. The DAC's core area measures <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$345\ \mu\ \mathrm{m}\ \times\ 1400\ \mu \mathrm{m}$</tex>, while the overall chip area is <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$833\ \mu\ \mathrm{m}\ \times 2068\ \mu\ \mathrm{m}$</tex>. Our design achieves a maximum integral nonlinearity (INL) of 0.422 LSB and a maximum differential nonlinearity (DNL) of 0.145 LSB. The DAC demonstrates strong spectral performance with a spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of 66.5 dB.