Impulse response of photoconductors in transmission lines

Abstract

The response of high-speed photoconductors to picosecond optical pulses is analyzed by representing them as time-varying circuit elements in transmission lines. Expressions are derived for transmitted and reflected waves for photoconductors used both as pulse generators and sampling gates. These results are then used to determine the correlated response of pairs of photoconductors in different transmission line networks. The results provide a basis for estimating the limiting speed of response of this approach to very high-speed electronic measurements.