MODE-LOCKED PULSE OPERATION OF GAAS/ALGAAS FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTOR SELF-ELECTRO-OPTIC EFFECT DEVICE SMART PIXELS AND SATURATION CONSIDERATIONS

The input/output ports of Smart Pixels are the optical signal receivers and transmitters. We have tested the simplest, lowest power dissipating, receiver-transmitter pair circuit with mode-locked (ML) laser pulses and find switching times as short as 200 ps. We also observe that the product of the set optical energy and switching time is a constant. In addition we present a comparison of the saturation properties of quantum well modulators when operated with short ML pulses, versus bit-period length pulses (quasi-continuous wave operation). Although the read pulse energy requirements of smart pixel optical signal transmitters are near saturation conditions, we conclude that with careful design, operation with short pulses, which gives the minimum switching time, should be possible. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.