Surface Acoustic Wave Memory Using Semiconductor Laser

A new method for storing both phase and amplitude of surface wave signals with large bandwidth in silicon surface states by a short light pulse emitted from a GaAs laser diode is presented. 87 MHz surface wave signals are stored by using a light pulse with a duration of 0.5 ns and the stored signal are read out as a correlation output signal at a delayed time after storage. Pulse compression experiments are also demonstrated by storing a linear FM chirp signal with this method.