Photoconductive generation of short electrical pulses of variable duration using a coplanar waveguide with capacitively coupled ground termination

Abstract

Short electrical pulses with variable duration are generated by optically exciting a coplanar waveguide that is capacitively connected to a ground termination. The underlying concept is based on the superposition of the original pulse and the reflected one with an opposite sign and a variable round trip delay. By sliding the pump beam along the coplanar waveguide, generation of short electrical pulses with different peak voltages, widths, and signs are demonstrated in a laser-diode-based system. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.