ELECTROOPTIC SAMPLING SYSTEM FOR THE TESTING OF HIGH-SPEED INTEGRATED-CIRCUITS USING A FREE-RUNNING SOLID-STATE LASER

This paper deals with the indirect electro-optic sampling technique fo r the low-invasive detection of periodical voltage waveforms on lines in high-speed integrated circuits. The system introduced here is based on a passive mode-coupled Ti:Sapphire-Laser as light source for gener ating optical pulses in the subpicosecond regime. Therefore, we have t o synchronize the resulting electric measurement signal and its extern al trigger onto the pulse repetition rate of this free running solid-s tate laser. The multi user function of the laser system forces us to t ransmit the pulses via a single-mode fiber into the measurement setup. For that purpose we developed a special optical arrangement to minimi ze the widening of the pulses in the time domain. The system's high-te mporal resolution of nearly 10 ps in combination with its high-voltage sensitivity of about 800 mu V/root Hz is demonstrated by measurements of an integrated microwave frequency divider.