NONINVASIVE ELECTRO-OPTIC PROBING FOR MMIC

THERE IS AN IMPLICIT NEED FOR THE ABILITY TO PROBE INTERNAL NODES IN GAAS MMIC'S TO FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE STRATEGICALLY CRITICAL COMPONENTS. SYSTEMS USING THE ELECTRO-OPTIC EFFECT HAVE DEMONSTRATED OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN THIS APPLICATION, BUT THESE SYSTEMS ARE EX-PENSIVE AND DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN AND USE. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL LEAD TO A SYSTEM BASED ON A CW LASER AND EXISTING AND HIGHLY DEVELOPEDFREQUENCY-DOMAIN INSTRUMENTATION TO PROVIDE INTERNAL-NODE PROBING CAP-ABILITY AT FREQUENCIES UP TO 6 GHZ. PHOTODETECTOR RESEARCH WILL BE PERFORMED AT OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY, AND OPTICAL COMPONENTS WILL BE COMBINED WITH CASCADE MICROTECH'S MICROWAVE PROBE STATION AND INSTRUMENTATION TO FORM A WORKING SYSTEM. THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEM WILL BE ANALYZED, METHODOLOGY FOR THE REQUIREMENTS ON COMPONENTS FOR EXTENDING THE BANDWIDTH AND SENSITIVITY WILL BE DETERMINED. THIS WILL FORM THE BASIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A 26 GHZ PROBING SYSTEM IN PHASE II DEVELOPMENT.