Electro-Optic Sampler For Gallium Arsenide Integrated Circuits

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
We report a new technique for directly sampling electrical waveforms in GaAs integrated circuits with picosecond time resolution. This noninvasive sampling system provides a powerful new tool for the design and diagnosis of GaAs integrated circuits. The technique is based on the intrinsic electro-optic effect in GaAs and utilizes a mode-locked and compressed Nd:YAG laser to electro-optically sample the fringing fields of microstrip transmission lines in GaAs integrated circuits. The frequency doubled output of the laser can be used to excite on-chip photodetectors which serve as test signal generators, or the circuits can be driven by external signal generators. We also demonstrate how the sampling system can be operated as a harmonic mixer for evaluation of pulse-to-pulse timing jitter in mode-locked lasers.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: