2 ps InGaAs photoconductors and their speed-of-response evaluation by optical pulse mixing at inherent nonlinearities

Abstract

Miniaturized In0.53Ga0.47As/InP photoconductors with nanosecond response times were integrated into broadband coplanar 50 Ω microwave structures and their response times shortened by 14 MeV Be 3+-ion implants. Using Carruther's pulse-mixing technique, which relies on the nonlinearities present in many photoconductors, we determined their speed of response to be of the order of 2 ps. Taking band-to-band recombination as the most probable cause of the slightly nonlinear behavior, we show that the response times determined from the mixing of partially overlapping optical pulses are indeed the intrinsic response times of the photoconductors.