Formation of Short Microwave Pulses by Laser-Driven GaAs Switch with Sub-Nanosecond Transient Response

Formation of sub-nanosecond and nanosecond scale microwave pulses from CW 170 GHz BWO has been experimentally demonstrated using quasi-optical GaAs switch with photoconductivity induced by both femtosecond 800 nm and picosecond 532 nm lasers. It has been shown that full duration at half maximum of the microwave pulses can be controlled by the energy of laser pulses in the range from sub-ns to a few nanoseconds.