This paper summarizes our recent progress on the discovery and THz performance of ErAs:GaAs photoconductive devices driven around 1550 nm. We will present the impulse response of such device in a time-domain spectrometer where the detection is realized with a GaAs electro-optic crystal. The full width at half-maximum of the temporal pulse is 500 fs and the corresponding bandwidth is greater than 2.5 THz. We also present different 1550-nm properties of this material including carrier lifetime by pump-probe phototransmission. All evidence to date suggests that the 1550-nm ultrafast behavior in ErAs:GaAs occurs by extrinsic photoconductivity, not two-photon effect.

Date Published: 7 March 2014
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 8985, Terahertz, RF, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Wave Technology and Applications VII, 898502 (7 March 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2041781

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8985:
Terahertz, RF, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Wave Technology and Applications VII
Laurence P. Sadwick; Créidhe M. O'Sullivan, Editor(s)