Patent ID: 7187187

Claim:
A signal acquisition probing system using electro-optic detection for sensing an electrical signal from a device under test comprising: an optical transmitter generating a coherent optical signal; a micro-cavity having an optical gain cavity formed by a vertical cavity surface emitting laser having an optical gain medium disposed between opposing optically reflective materials that receives the optical signal from the optical transmitter and generates an optical output, and an optical resonant cavity having electro-optic material disposed between opposing optically reflective materials with one of the optically reflective materials being a common reflective material with one of the optical reflective materials of the optical gain cavity that receives the optical output from the optical gain cavity; first and second electrically conductive electrodes receiving the electrical signal from the device under test with each of the first and second electrically conductive electrodes being formed in at least a portion of the electro-optic material generally parallel to the received optical signal propagating within the electro-optic material; an optical transmission system optically coupled to the optical transmitter, micro-cavity laser and an optical receiver providing the optical signal from the optical transmitter to the micro-cavity laser and providing a frequency modulated optical signal to the optical receiver representing the electrical signal from the device under test derived from the device under test electrical signal creating an electromagnetic field distribution in the electro-optic material that overlaps the optical path of the optical signal propagating in the electro-optic material and varies the index of refraction of the electro-optic material in the optical path; and the optical receiver generating an output electrical signal from the frequency modulated optical signal from the micro-cavity laser.