Development of Waveguide Semiconductor Switches of Microwave Radiation in the 70-and 260-ghz Ranges

摘要

We have developed, manufactured, and studied experimentally prototypes of microwave switches operated in the 70- and 260-GHz frequency ranges and controlled by pulses of optical laser radiation. The results of their numerical simulation by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method are presented, along with the design parameters of the prototypes. The switch speed is equal to 1 ns, and the microwave tuning frequency range amounts to about 10%. The process of switching with the use of a low-cost semiconductor optical laser (with a wavelength of 532 nm and a continuous-wave power of 200 MW) is demonstrated experimentally at a switched-radiation frequency of 266.68 GHz.