Method of and means for controlling the electromagnetic output power of electro-optic semiconductor devices

摘要

The output electromagnetic power of optoelectric heterojunction semiconductor devices having an active semiconductor layer with a mobile charge-carrier plasma is controlled by applying a microwave electric field inside the active layer by means of at least two semiconductor contacts to the active layer that are conducting to at least one type of mobile charge carrier and blocking to another type of charge carrier. An electrical signal is applied inside the active layer to transform the distribution of energies and equivalent temperature of the charge carriers of the mobile charge-carrier plasma in order to control light emission and absorption in the active layer. A heterojunction semiconductor laser is disclosed with two sets of electrical contacts: one to apply pumping currents and the other to control the electric field. Operating modes of the heterojunction devices are discussed which include high frequency (up to 100 GHz) modulation of the electromagnetic output of the laser, formation of picosecond optical pulses, and simultaneous amplitude modulation and mixing two signals by controlling synchronously the intensity, period and phase of pumping current and electric-field inside the active layer.