Congreso: EWOFS’04: Second European Wrkshop on Optical Fibre Sensors. Santander, España. 9-11 Junio, 2004

Autores: Fernando Calle, Tomás Palacios, Jorge Pedrós, Jesús Grajal,

Nitride semiconductor devices have recently been developed for a number of electronic and optoelectronic applications, including amplifiers, light emitters and several kinds of sensors. In particular, ultraviolet detectors with a tailored spectral response can be achieved due to the direct wide bandgap of AlGaN alloys; on the other side, acoustic wave devices take advantage of the piezoelectric and elastic properties. In this work, we will describe the fabrication and characterization of a novel kind of optical detector, based on the interaction of surface acoustic waves and photocarriers. The response, which is linear with the incident optical power, can be controlled either by modifying the input power of the RF signal which creates the acoustic wave, or by tuning its frequency, in the latter case with a very high sensitivity. Several applications can be envisaged as a result of this synergy, such as imaging displays and electro-optical modulators.