Compound semiconductor technology is rapidly entering the mainstream, and is quickly finding its way into consumer applications where high performance is paramount. But silicon integrated circuit technology is evolving up the performance curve, and CMOS in particular is consuming ever more market share. Nowhere is this contest more clearly evident than in optical communications. Here applications demand performance ranging from a few hundreds of megahertz to multi-gigahertz, from circuits containing anywhere from tens to tens of thousands of devices. This paper reviews the high performance electronics found in optical communication applications from a technology standpoint, illustrating merits and market trends for these competing, yet often complementary IC technologies.
