Abstract

We describe the generation of subpicosecond electrical pulses by optical rectification of ultrashort optical pulses. The electrical pulses are generated by the second-order nonlinear response of a ${\mathrm{LiTaO}}_3$ crystal bonded to a coplanar transmission line. A bipolar temporal waveform with a width of 875 fs was measured after a propagation distance of $175 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$. This pulse width was limited by the response time of the photoconductive sampler. We observed both broadening and amplitude reduction in the temporal waveform owing to propagation.

© 1998 Optical Society of America

Nonlinear optical generation and detection of ultrashort electrical pulses in transmission lines

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