ABSTRACT

The science and technology of ultrafast pulses has, in recent years, come of age, becoming ever more important in the real world. In the early days of lasers, efforts concentrated on getting lasers to operate as continuous light sources. The technology of ultrafast optoelectronics involves devices for emitting, modulating, transmitting, or sensing light. It is not only the device limitations as, on the electronics side, further constraints can be imposed by parasitic inductances or capacitances in the electronic circuitry and high-frequency attenuation mechanisms in cables. Laser operation is generally sustained by an optical cavity to provide optical feedback into the gain material. The photons circulating in the cavity experience laser gain but losses from the cavity can occur due imperfect reflections but primarily from output coupling. In microwave electronic systems, a severe limitation is imposed by the high-frequency damping mechanisms.