Photoconductive generation of 2 ps electrical pulses with semi-insulating GaAs

摘要

We report on a novel photoconductive (PC) switching technique, capable of generating ultrashort electrical pulses. The PC geometry of the switch is such that the incident optical pulse can both switch 'on' and later switch 'off' the electrical transient. The method of electrical pulse generation is, therefore, independent of the charge-carrier lifetime in the semiconductor.