Demonstration of a GaAs-based 1550-nm continuous wave photomixer

An Er:GaAs-based 1550-nm CW photomixer is demonstrated. The related mechanism is extrinsic photoconductivity with optical absorption between the localized deep levels created by the Er and the extended states above the conduction band edge of GaAs. With the power boost made possible by a fiber-coupl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2015-01, Vol.106 (2)
Main Authors: Zhang, W.-D., Middendorf, J. R., Brown, E. R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ABSORPTION
AMPLIFIERS
Applied physics
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
Conduction bands
Continuous radiation
DOPED MATERIALS
ENERGY SPECTRA
ERBIUM
FIBERS
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GHZ RANGE
PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY
SWITCHES
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:An Er:GaAs-based 1550-nm CW photomixer is demonstrated. The related mechanism is extrinsic photoconductivity with optical absorption between the localized deep levels created by the Er and the extended states above the conduction band edge of GaAs. With the power boost made possible by a fiber-coupled erbium-doped-fiber amplifier, the Er:GaAs photomixers, operating at 1550 nm, radiate THz power levels easily measured by a Golay cell, and display a power spectrum having a −3 dB roll-off frequency of 307 GHz. This corresponds to a photocarrier lifetime of 520 fs, in good agreement with a previous measurement of the bandwidth of the same material in a photoconductive switch.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4906284