Fiber-coupled transceiver for terahertz reflection measurements with a 4.5 THz bandwidth.

We present a fiber-coupled transceiver for THz time-domain spectroscopy, which combines an emitter and a receiver on a single photoconductive chip. With a bandwidth of 4.5 THz and a peak dynamic range larger than 70 dB, it allows for THz reflection measurements under normal incidence. This THz reflection head is a promising device for applications in such fields as material inspection and nondestructive testing.

Absolute terahertz power measurement of a time-domain spectroscopy system.

We report on, to the best of our knowledge, the first absolute terahertz (THz) power measurement of a photoconductive emitter developed for time-domain spectroscopy (TDS). The broadband THz radiation emitted by a photoconductor optimized for the excitation with 1550-nm femtosecond pulses was measured by an ultrathin pyroelectric thin-film (UPTF) detector. We show that this detector has a spectrally flat transmission between 100 GHz and 5 THz due to special conductive electrodes on both sides of the UPTF. Its flat responsivity allows the calibration with a standard detector that is traceable to the International System of Units (SI) at the THz detector calibration facility of PTB. Absolute THz power in the range from below 1 µW to above 0.1 mW was measured.

All fiber-coupled THz-TDS system with kHz measurement rate based on electronically controlled optical sampling.

We demonstrate a completely fiber-coupled terahertz (THz) time-domain spectrometer (TDS) system based on electronically controlled optical sampling with two erbium-doped femtosecond fiber lasers at a central wavelength of 1560 nm. The system employs optimized InGaAs/InAlAs photoconductive antennas for THz generation and detection. With this system, we achieve measurement rates of up to 8 kHz and up to 180 ps scan range. We further achieve 2 THz spectral bandwidth and a dynamic range of 76 dB at only 500 ms measurement time.

Influence and adjustment of carrier lifetimes in InGaAs/InAlAs photoconductive pulsed terahertz detectors: 6 THz bandwidth and 90dB dynamic range.

We investigate the influence of Beryllium (Be) doping on the performance of photoconductive THz detectors based on molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of low temperature (LT) grown In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As/In(0.52)Al(0.48)As multilayer heterostructures (MLHS). We show how the optical excitation power affects carrier lifetime, detector signal, dynamic range and bandwidth in THz time domain spectroscopy (TDS) in dependence on Be-doping concentration. For optimal doping we measured a THz bandwidth in excess of 6 THz and a dynamic range of up to 90 dB.

Multichannel terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system at 1030 nm excitation wavelength.

We present Terahertz (THz) imaging with a 1D multichannel time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) system which operates with a photoconductive array of 15 detection channels excited by a 1030 nm femtosecond fiber laser. The emitter and detector are photoconductive antennas based on InGaAs/InAlAs multi-layer heterostructures (MLHS). We characterized the THz optics and the resolution of the system. The performance is demonstrated by the multichannel imaging of two samples. A simultaneous measurement of 15 THz pulses with a pixel pitch of 1 mm increases the measurement speed of the TDS system by factor 15.

Telecom technology based continuous wave terahertz photomixing system with 105 decibel signal-to-noise ratio and 3.5 terahertz bandwidth.

A modified photoconductive receiver significantly improves the performance of photomixing-based continuous wave (cw) THz systems driven at the optical telecommunication wavelength of 1.5 µm. The achieved signal-to-noise ratio of 105 dB at 100 GHz and 70 dB at 1 THz, both for an integration time of 200 ms, are to our knowledge the highest numbers reported in literature for any optoelectronic cw THz system, including classical setups operating at 800 nm. The developed receiver allows for combining low cost and high performance in one system for the first time to our knowledge.

Photonic-integrated circuit for continuous-wave THz generation.

We demonstrate a photonic-integrated circuit for continuous-wave (cw) terahertz (THz) generation. By comprising two lasers and an optical phase modulator on a single chip, the full control of the THz signal is enabled via a unique bidirectional operation technique. Integrated heaters allow for continuous tuning of the THz frequency over 570 GHz. Applied to a coherent cw THz photomixing system operated at 1.5 µm optical wavelength, we reach a signal-to-noise ratio of 44 dB at 1.25 THz, which is identical to the performance of a standard system based on discrete components.

Precisely tunable continuous-wave terahertz source with interferometric frequency control.

We realized a tunable continuous-wave terahertz source with megahertz frequency resolution. The system is based on optical heterodyning of two near-infrared distributed feedback diode lasers, each laser being stabilized by electronic feedback from a low-finesse quadrature interferometer. The control loop permits precisely linear laser frequency scans over >1200 GHz, and a beat signal linewidth of 1 MHz at 80 ms time scale. Using GaAs photomixers and log-periodic antennae, we achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of the terahertz power of >70 dB at 100 GHz and 100 ms integration time, and still approximately 30 dB at 1 THz. As an example for high-resolution terahertz spectroscopy, we characterize the transmission properties of a subwavelength metal grating.