Optically controlled quasi-optical local oscillator injection for a 100 GHz SIS imaging receiver

We present a novel approach to the problem of quasi-optical LO injection in a 100 GHz SIS imaging receiver. The use of a specially engineered molecular beam epitaxy material as an all-optical millimeter wave modulator is presented. This optically controlled modulator, used together with a kinoform to generate and control an array of Gaussian beams, is an efficient, completely solid-state, rugged and physically small solution. The working principle of the optically controlled modulator lies in the fact that the conductivity of a semiconductor can be changed by the generation of free carriers under photonic excitation, thus changing its refractive index