Optoelectronic regenerative pulser

The letter describes a new scheme for generating repetitive picosecond laser and electrical pulses in a controlled manner. The arrangement is a feedback loop containing a semiconductor diode laser, a photodetector, an amplifier and a time delay. The loop allows the laser to be driven by an ultrashort current pulse derived from the previous laser pulse. Optical and electrical pulses of less than 100 ps have been generated using GaAs-based lumped components. Monolithic integration of these components on a chip seems feasible with possible increase in speed.