Laser heterodyne optovoltaic effect in the microwave range

• Published in: Technical physics letters Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 514 - 516
• Main Author: Akchurin, G. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Nature B.V 01.06.2006
• Subjects: Beat frequencies; Coherent radiation; Dynamic characteristics; Electron recombination; Electrons; Injection current; Injection lasers; Lasers; P-n junctions; Resonators; Semiconductor lasers; Tunable lasers
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063785006060198
• ISSN: 1063-7850

Dynamic characteristics of the optovoltaic effect in the mega-and gigahertz range have been studied by detecting longitudinal modes of a semiconductor injection laser diode with a tunable external resonator. The electron lifetime in the active region of the p-n junction was determined by measuring the amplitude of the alternating injection current component at an intermode beat frequency in the course of resonator length tuning. As the resonator length was varied from 1 m to 3 cm, the beat frequency changed from 150 MHz to 5 GHz. In this case, the characteristic range of the optovoltaic effect in GaAlAs laser diodes (λ = 0.82 μm) is limited by the spontaneous electron recombination time, which is on the order of 0.8 ns. An electron-photon noise resonance has been observed in the coherent radiation and in the injection current.