An Optoelectronic Attenuator for the High-Speed Control of Microwave Integrated Circuits.
Abstract
An optoelectronic attenuator suitable for the optical control of microwave integrated circuits is presented. High-speed photoconductive switches are embedded in planar microwave transmission lines, and semiconductor laser diodes (LDs) are used to control the microwave signal level on these high-speed lines. With a silicon coplanar waveguide-photoconductive switch (Si:CPW-PCS), up to 45 dB of microwave attenuation has been achieved with a fiber-pigtailed laser diode having 144 mW of optical power. Measurements made using a vector network analyzer show that the attenuator performance can be explained by a classical plasma absorption argument, whereby the microwave signal is attenuated by the optically induced solid-state plasma. Edge-coupled Fabry-Perot aluminum-gallium-arsenide/gallium-arsenide (AlGaAs/GaAs) semiconductor LDs, as well as both silicon and gallium-arsenide (GaAs) CPW-PCSs, were developed for the optoelectronic attenuator. When conventional gain-switching techniques are used, LD peak Output powers greater than 1 W have been demonstrated, and when an optical Q-switching scheme is used, 6 W of peak power has been achieved in tens of picoseconds. (jg)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA289579
Entities
People
- Chi H. Lee
- Stephen E. Saddow
Organizations
- United States Army Research Laboratory