This article is cited in 19 papers

Optically controlled semiconductor microwave modulator with nanosecond response

M. L. Kulygin, G. G. Denisov, Yu. V. Rodin

Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod

Abstract: A microwave modulator optically controlled by laser pulses has been theoretically studied, constructed, and tested. Results of numerical simulations performed by the finite-difference method are presented, design parameters are reported, and coincidence between the calculated and experimentally measured characteristics is demonstrated. The switching time of the modulator is about 1 ns, the characteristic energy of control laser pulses sufficient for the optimum switching is 10 mJ, and the range of mechanical tuning of the microwave frequency is about 10% (66–72 GHz). It is experimentally demonstrated that the modulator reliably operates when the control laser radiation parameters vary within broad limits.

Received: 01.12.2010

 English version: Technical Physics Letters, 2011, 37:4, 368–370

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