Scalable (24-140 Gbps) optical data link well adapted for future maskless lithography applications

Maskless lithography based on electron beam parallelization requires well adapted data links, capable of transmitting the corresponding data volume at rates up to the Tbps domain. In this paper we focus on a scalable (24 - 140 Gbps) optical data link, well adapted for future implementation in maskless lithography systems. The link comprises a high-speed data buffer with synchronizable architecture and scalable throughput (N x 24 Gbps), an optical free space transmission solution, a 45 channel low-noise optical receiver chip based on BiCMOS 0.6 micron technology and, finally, a Data Processor & Demux IP core implemented in VHDL.