Resonant-optical-cavity photoconductive switch with 0.5% conversion efficiency and $1.0\mathrm{W}$ peak power

Abstract

We report a new photoconductive switch having an average output power of $44\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{W}$, an instantaneous bandwidth of $\sim 300\mathrm{GHz}$, an output pulse width of $\sim 2.2\mathrm{ps}$, a peak output power of $\approx 1.0\mathrm{W}$, and an optical-to-electrical conversion efficiency of $\sim 0.5\%$ when pumped by a palm-sized mode-locked free-space laser at $\lambda =780.6\mathrm{nm}$ with an average power of $8.7\mathrm{mW}$ and an optical pulse width of $\sim -230\mathrm{fs}$. The switch is made from an $\mathrm{ErAs}:\mathrm{GaAs}$ epitaxial layer inside a resonant optical cavity and coupled to a planar three-turn square spiral antenna.

© 2006 Optical Society of America

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