High-speed optoelectronic sampling with semiconductor-laser pulsed coplanar photoconductor

Abstract

A semiconductor-laser strobed photoconductive sampling gate for the measurement of ultra-high-speed electronic signals on coaxial lines is reported. For the short response (0.1 A/W) at the 830 nm laser wavelength the sampling gate uses a miniaturised (8×8×1 μm) epitaxial GaAs photoconductor on a broadband tapered coplanar 50 Ω microwave structure.