Abstract

The development of high-speed electrical devices and circuits which operate in the picosecond range has created a need for measurement techniques with correspondingly high temporal resolution. Optoelectronic sampling techniques, in which picosecond or femtosecond laser pulses are used to interrogate the electrical waveform, have been invented for this purpose.^1-3 We describe a new approach in which time-resolved photoemission is utilized for high-speed electrical sampling. Our approach offers femtosecond time resolution with a simple experimental geometry; and in contrast to existing electrooptic probing methods,^{2 3} our technique is suitable for both electrooptic (gallium arsenide, lithium tantalate) and nonelectrooptic material (silicon).

© 1986 Optical Society of America