Broadband D/A and A/D Conversion and Sampling

In optical communications and photonic computing, high-speed, low-power bidirectional conversion between the digital data handled by electronic circuits and the analog waveforms handled by photonic circuits is expected to substantially improve data transfer rates and computational throughput.

This research combines photonic devices and electronic circuits for multiplexing and frequency conversion, aiming to generate and measure signals with bandwidths of several hundred gigahertz, beyond the speed limits of electronic devices. Previous work proposed and demonstrated a bandwidth tripler that combines digital signal processing with CMOS analog circuitry to frequency-convert and combine multiple lower-speed signals, tripling the DAC signal bandwidth. A photonic D/A conversion scheme has also been proposed that combines binary-signal encoding and timing control with parallel silicon optical modulators.

Building on this experience in signal processing and circuit design, current work explores new D/A conversion schemes and high-speed optical sampling.