Characterization of GaAs integrated circuits by direct electro-optic sampling

With the recent demonstration of direct electro-optic sampling of GaAs circuits, a new method to characterize high-speed monolithic microwave and digital circuits exists. This technique uses picosecond pulses from a laser to non-invasively probe voltage waveforms at points internal to monolithic circuits with a measurement bandwidth in excess of 50 GHz. This paper presents measurements of a GaAs MESFET traveling wave amplifier and an 8-bit multiplexer/demultiplexer.