Proceedings Volume 10623

2017 International Conference on Optical Instruments and Technology: IRMMW-THz Technologies and Applications

Cunlin Zhang, Xi-Cheng Zhang, Zhiming Huang, et al.
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Proceedings Volume 10623

2017 International Conference on Optical Instruments and Technology: IRMMW-THz Technologies and Applications

Cunlin Zhang, Xi-Cheng Zhang, Zhiming Huang, et al.
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Volume Details

Date Published: 24 January 2018
Contents: 4 Sessions, 30 Papers, 0 Presentations
Conference: International Conference on Optical Instruments and Technology 2017 2017
Volume Number: 10623

Table of Contents

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Table of Contents

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  • Front Matter: Volume 10623
  • Session 1
  • Session 2
  • Poster Session
Front Matter: Volume 10623
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Front Matter: Volume 10623
This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 10623, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.
Session 1
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Corrugated metal surface with pillars for terahertz surface plasmon polariton waveguide components
Ying Zhang, Yuehong Xu, Chunxiu Tian, et al.
In the terahertz regime, due to perfect conductivity of most metals, it is hard to realize a strong confinement of Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) although a propagation loss could be sufficiently low. We experimentally demonstrated a structure with periodic pillars arranged on a thin metal surface that supports bound modes of spoof SPPs at terahertz (THz) frequencies. By using scanning near-field THz microscopy, the electric field distribution above the metal surface within a distance of 130 μm was mapped. The results proved that this structure could guide spoof SPPs propagating along subwavelength waveguides, and at the same time reduce field expansion into free space. Further, for the development of integrated optical circuits, several components including straight waveguide, S-bend, Y-splitter and directional couplers were designed and characterized by the same method. We believe that the waveguide components proposed here will pave a new way for the development of flexible, wideband and compact photonic circuits operating at THz frequencies.
THz computed tomography system with zero-order Bessel beam
Liting Niu, Qiao Wu, Kejia Wang, et al.
Terahertz (THz) waves can penetrate many optically opaque dielectric materials such as plastics, ceramics and colorants. It is effective to reveal the internal structures of these materials. We have built a THz Computed Tomography (CT) system with 0.3 THz zero-order Bessel beam to improve the depth of focus of this imaging system for the non-diffraction property of Bessel beam. The THz CT system has been used to detect a paper cup with a metal rod inside. Finally, the acquired projection data have been processed by the filtered back-projection algorithm and the reconstructed image of the sample has been obtained.
Manipulating the strength and broadband of the resonators in the terahertz metamaterials
Changxiang Liu, Qingli Zhou, Chenyu Li, et al.
We investigate two dipoles which are attached or separated with the orthogonal arrangement in the terahertz frequency. These results show that the metasurface could achieve the resonance coupling and polarization conversion effect. There are two resonance dips in the transmission spectra, when these two dipoles are attached to form the L-shaped structure. With the spacing between vertical and horizontal dipoles separated, the broadband of the resonator becomes narrower and resonance dips merge into one deeper dip due to the superposition of the interaction of two dipoles. The loss of the energy is not only coupled to the free space but also converted to the cross-polarization. The broadband and the strength of the crosspolarization are modulated by changing the distance between the vertical and horizontal dipoles. Tuning the spacing, we control the co- and cross polarization of the broadband and the strength at the same time. This modulation provides the functionally potential applications in the terahertz modulators and filters.
A debugging method of the Quadrotor UAV based on infrared thermal imaging
Guangjie Cui, Qian Hao, Jianguo Yang, et al.
High-performance UAV has been popular and in great need in recent years. The paper introduces a new method in debugging Quadrotor UAVs. Based on the infrared thermal technology and heat transfer theory, a UAV is under debugging above a hot-wire grid which is composed of 14 heated nichrome wires. And the air flow propelled by the rotating rotors has an influence on the temperature distribution of the hot-wire grid. An infrared thermal imager below observes the distribution and gets thermal images of the hot-wire grid. With the assistance of mathematic model and some experiments, the paper discusses the relationship between thermal images and the speed of rotors. By means of getting debugged UAVs into test, the standard information and thermal images can be acquired. The paper demonstrates that comparing to the standard thermal images, a UAV being debugging in the same test can draw some critical data directly or after interpolation. The results are shown in the paper and the advantages are discussed.
Session 2
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Terahertz carpet cloak based on ultrathin metasurface
Minggui Wei, Quanlong Yang, Xueqian Zhang, et al.
Ultrathin metasurfaces with local phase compensation deliver new schemes to cloaking devices. We demonstrate a remarkable large size carpet cloak realized by an ultrathin metasurface at terahertz frequencies. The metasurface cloak is constructed by periodically arranging 12 different elements. The reflected wave front is perfectly reconstructed by an ultrathin metasurface cloak, which perform well under both intensity-sensitive and phase-sensitive detectors. The invisibility is verified when the cloak is placed on a reflecting triangular surface (bump). The multi-step discrete phase design method would greatly simplify the design process and is probable to achieve large-dimension cloaks, for applications in radar and antenna systems as a thin and easy-to-fabricate solution for radio and terahertz frequencies.
All-dielectric band stop filter at terahertz frequencies
Shan Yin, Lin Chen
We design all-dielectric band stop filters with silicon subwavelength rod and block arrays at terahertz frequencies. Supporting magnetic dipole resonances originated from the Mia resonance, the all-dielectric filters can modulate the working band by simply varying the structural geometry, while eliminating the ohmic loss induced by the traditional metallic metamaterials and uninvolved with the complicated mechanism. The nature of the resonance in the silicon arrays is clarified, which is attributed to the destructive interference between the directly transmitted waves and the waves emitted from the magnetic dipole resonances, and the resonance frequency is determined by the dielectric structure. By particularly designing the geometrical parameters, the profile of the transmission spectrum can be tailored, and the step-like band edge can be obtained. The all-dielectric filters can realize 93% modulation of the transmission within 0.04 THz, and maintain the bandwidth of 0.05 THz. This work provides a method to develop THz functional devices, such as filters, switches and sensors.
Compact terahertz spectrometer based on disordered rough surfaces
Tao Yang, Bing Jiang, Jia-cheng Ge, et al.
In this paper, a compact spectrometer based on disordered rough surfaces for operation in the terahertz band is presented. The proposed spectrometer consists of three components, which are used for dispersion, modulation and detection respectively. The disordered rough surfaces, which are acted as the dispersion component, are modulated by the modulation component. Different scattering intensities are captured by the detection component with different extent of modulation. With a calibration measurement process, one can reconstruct the spectra of the probe terahertz beam by solving a system of simultaneous linear equations. A Tikhonov regularization approach has been implemented to improve the accuracy of the spectral reconstruction. The reported broadband, compact, high-resolution terahertz spectrometer is well suited for portable terahertz spectroscopy applications.
Poster Session
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Stimulation research on the measurement of the IRW pneumatic thermal radiation
When an aircraft flies at a hypersonic speed within the atmosphere, the temperature of the infrared window (IRW) on the aircraft will rise rapidly due to the high-speed incoming flow will produce a severe aerodynamic heating to its optical detection window. The infrared (IR) radiation of the high-temperature gas and optical window will generate severe pneumatic thermal radiation effect upon the detection system, with the performance of the IR detector possibly being reduced or even destroyed.

To evaluate the influence on the target imaging made by the IRW radiation, the experiment on the basis of building a simulating model is conducted by the means of ray tracing so that the accurate transmittance of the IRW can be observed under the different temperature. And then the radiation distribution of the thermal radiation on the detector generated by the IRW radiation noise and target signal can finally be obtained.

This paper also records the different parameters in the detection system being set in the experiment, and analyzes the different influences brought by various factors to the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). It is also expected that it will provide a data reference to the following research of radiation noise suppression and design of IR detection system.
Research on terahertz properties of rat brain tissue sections during dehydration
Gangqiang Cui, Jianfeng Liang, Hongwei Zhao, et al.
Biological tissue sections are always kept in a system purged with dry nitrogen for the measurement of terahertz spectrum. However, the injected nitrogen will cause dehydration of tissue sections, which will affect the accuracy of spectrum measurement. In this paper, terahertz time-domain spectrometer is used to measure the terahertz spectra of rat brain tissue sections during dehydration. The changes of terahertz properties, including terahertz transmittance, refractive index and extinction coefficient during dehydration are also analyzed. The amplitudes of terahertz time-domain spectra increase gradually during the dehydration process. Besides, the terahertz properties show obvious changes during the dehydration process. All the results indicate that the injected dry nitrogen has a significant effect on the terahertz spectra and properties of tissue sections. This study contributes to further research and application of terahertz technology in biomedical field.
Optical constant determination of cross-linked polystyrene in the infrared
Jianfeng Liang, Min Tu, Wenyuan Liu, et al.
Cross-linked polystyrene is a kind of thermosetting plastic which has excellent dielectric properties and high breakdown voltage. In this paper, cross-linked polystyrene and polystyrene were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and the reflective spectra were measured. Subsequent Kramers-Kronig analysis provided the dispersion of the refractive index and the absorption index across the infrared region. The results showed that the refractive index of cross-linked polystyrene decreased rapidly from 1.5 to 1.1 in the spectral region 100cm-1-4000cm-1, which was much lower than that of polystyrene (around 1.5).
Nonlinear bias analysis and correction of microwave temperature sounder observations for FY-3C meteorological satellite
Taiyang Hu, Rongchuan Lv, Xu Jin, et al.
The nonlinear bias analysis and correction of receiving channels in Chinese FY-3C meteorological satellite Microwave Temperature Sounder (MWTS) is a key technology of data assimilation for satellite radiance data. The thermal-vacuum chamber calibration data acquired from the MWTS can be analyzed to evaluate the instrument performance, including radiometric temperature sensitivity, channel nonlinearity and calibration accuracy. Especially, the nonlinearity parameters due to imperfect square-law detectors will be calculated from calibration data and further used to correct the nonlinear bias contributions of microwave receiving channels. Based upon the operational principles and thermalvacuum chamber calibration procedures of MWTS, this paper mainly focuses on the nonlinear bias analysis and correction methods for improving the calibration accuracy of the important instrument onboard FY-3C meteorological satellite, from the perspective of theoretical and experimental studies. Furthermore, a series of original results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and significance of the methods.
Switchable tri-band THz polarizing rotator based on chiral metamaterials
One kind of switchable, tri-band, terahertz linear polarizing rotator is presented in this paper, which consists of sandwiched metal chiral metamaterial structure composed of twisted electric field-coupled resonators in C4 symmetry and a VO2 film on substrate for active controlling. The polarizing rotation is switchable with the state change of VO2 from an insulator to metal. Simulated results consistently demonstrate that the switchable rotator exhibits extremely low loss, high polarization conversion ratio and optical activity at the three resonance frequencies. The influence of different geometric parameters of the chiral metamaterial structure is investigated to optimize the multiband rotating response of the polarizing rotator. This switchable terahertz metamaterial-based rotator has various potential applications in terahertz wave controlling and the terahertz functional devices.
Scattering properties of electromagnetic waves from metal object in the lower terahertz region
An efficient hybrid algorithm is proposed to analyze the electromagnetic scattering properties of metal objects in the lower terahertz (THz) frequency. The metal object can be viewed as perfectly electrical conducting object with a slightly rough surface in the lower THz region. Hence the THz scattered field from metal object can be divided into coherent and incoherent parts. The physical optics and truncated-wedge incremental-length diffraction coefficients methods are combined to compute the coherent part; while the small perturbation method is used for the incoherent part. With the MonteCarlo method, the radar cross section of the rough metal surface is computed by the multilevel fast multipole algorithm and the proposed hybrid algorithm, respectively. The numerical results show that the proposed algorithm has good accuracy to simulate the scattering properties rapidly in the lower THz region.
A simple system for 160GHz optical terahertz wave generation and data modulation
Yihan Li, Jingsuo He, Xueming Sun, et al.
A simple system based on two cascaded Mach-Zehnder modulators, which can generate 160GHz optical terahertz waves from 40GHz microwave sources, is simulated and tested in this paper. Fiber grating filter is used in the system to filter out optical carrier. By properly adjusting the modulator DC bias voltages and the signal voltages and phases, 4-tupling optical terahertz wave can be generated with fiber grating. This notch fiber grating filter is greatly suitable for terahertz over fiber (TOF) communication system. This scheme greatly reduces the cost of long-distance terahertz communication. Furthermore, 10Gbps digital signal is modulated in the 160GHz optical terahertz wave.
The preparation method of terahertz monolithic integrated device
Cong Zhang, Bo Su, Jingsuo He, et al.
The terahertz monolithic integrated device is to integrate the pumping area of the terahertz generation, the detection area of the terahertz receiving and the metal waveguide of terahertz transmission on the same substrate. The terahertz generation and detection device use a photoconductive antenna structure,the metal waveguide use a microstrip line structure. The evanescent terahertz-bandwidth electric field extending above the terahertz transmission line interacts with, and is modified by, overlaid dielectric samples, thus enabling the characteristic vibrational absorption resonances in the sample to be probed. In this device structure, since the semiconductor substrate of the photoconductive antenna is located between the strip conductor and the dielectric layer of the microstrip line, and the semiconductor substrate cannot grow on the dielectric layer directly. So how to prepare the semiconductor substrate of the photoconductive antenna and how to bond the semiconductor substrate to the dielectric layer of the microstrip line is a key step in the terahertz monolithic integrated device. In order to solve this critical problem, the epitaxial wafer structure of the two semiconductor substrates is given and transferred to the desired substrate by two methods, respectively.
Hydrothermal preparation of vanadium dioxide thin films and research progress of terahertz modulation
Zexia Shi, Ruike Wang, Xipeng Jin, et al.
Vanadium dioxide is a functional material with thermotropic properties. The phase transition temperature is close to room temperature, and the metal-insulator transition at the phase transition temperature is accompanied by the abrupt change of light and electrical properties. It has important research value and Potential application prospects. In this paper, the research status and improvement methods of the preparation of vanadium dioxide thin films by hydrothermal method are reviewed, and the research progress of the modulation characteristics of vanadium dioxide thin terahertz in recent years is reviewed, and the future development trend is put forward.
Quantitative detection of melamine based on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy
Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1, 3, 5-triazine skeleton. It is usually used for the production of plastics, glue and flame retardants. Melamine combines with acid and related compounds to form melamine cyanurate and related crystal structures, which have been implicated as contaminants or biomarkers in protein adulterations by lawbreakers, especially in milk powder. This paper is focused on developing an available method for quantitative detection of melamine in the fields of security inspection and nondestructive testing based on THz-TDS. Terahertz (THz) technology has promising applications for the detection and identification of materials because it exhibits the properties of spectroscopy, good penetration and safety. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a key technique that is applied to spectroscopic measurement of materials based on ultrafast femtosecond laser. In this study, the melamine and its mixture with polyethylene powder in different consistence are measured using the transmission THz-TDS. And we obtained the refractive index spectra and the absorption spectrum of different concentrations of melamine on 0.2-2.8THz. In the refractive index spectra, it is obvious to see that decline trend with the decrease of concentration; and in the absorption spectrum, two peaks of melamine at 1.98THz and 2.28THz can be obtained. Based on the experimental result, the absorption coefficient and the consistence of the melamine in the mixture are determined. Finally, methods for quantitative detection of materials in the fields of nondestructive testing and quality control based on THz-TDS have been studied.
Detection of Ionic liquid using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy
Terahertz (THz, THz+1012Hz) spectroscopy is a far-infrared analytical technology with spectral bands locating between microware and infrared ranges. Being of excellent transmission, non-destruction and high discrimination, this technology has been applied in various fields such as physics, chemistry, nondestructive detection, communication, biomedicine public security. Terahertz spectrum is corresponding with vibration and rotation of liquid molecules, which is suitable to identify and study the liquid molecular dynamics. It is as a powerful spectral detection technology, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy is widely used in solution detection. can enable us to extract the material parameters or dielectric spectrum that show material micro-structure and dynamics by measuring amplitude and phase from coherent terahertz pulses. Ionic liquid exists in most biological tissues, and it is very important for life. It has recently been suggested that near-fired terahertz ionic contrast microscopy can be employed to image subtle changes in ionic concentrations arising from neuronal activity. In this paper, we detected Ionic liquid with different concentrations at room temperature by THz-TDS technique in the range of 0.2-1.5 THz. The liquid cell with a thickness of 0.2mm is made of quartz. The absorption coefficient, refractive index and dielectric function of solutions can be extracted based on THz-TDS. We use an expanded model for fitting the dielectric function based on a combination of a Debye relation for the anions and cations. We find A linear increase of the real and imaginary part of the dielectric function compared with pure water with increasing ion concentrations. A good agreement between the model and the experimental results is obtained. By means of dielectric relaxation process, it was found that the characteristic time of molecular movement and the information related to the liquid molecular structure and movement was obtained.
Detailed real-time infrared radiation simulation applied to the sea surface
Xuemin Zhang, Limin Wu, Liang Long, et al.
In this paper, the infrared radiation characteristics of sea background have been studied. First, MODTRAN4.0 was used to calculate the transmittance of mid-infrared and far-infrared, and the solar spectral irradiance, the atmospheric and sea surface radiation. Secondly, according to the JONSWAP sea spectrum model, the different sea conditions grid model based on gravity wave theory was generated. The spectral scattering of the sun and the atmospheric background radiation was studied. The total infrared radiation of the sea surface was calculated. Finally, the infrared radiation of a piece of sea surface was mapped to each pixel of the detector, and the infrared radiation is simulated. The conclusion is that solar radiance has a great influence on the infrared radiance. When the detector angle is close to the sun’s height angle, there will be bright spots on the sea surface.
Removing the echoes from terahertz pulse reflection system and sample
Haishun Liu, Zhenwei Zhang, Cunlin Zhang
Due to the echoes both from terahertz (THz) pulse reflection system and sample, the THz primary pulse will be distorted. The system echoes include two types. One preceding the main peak probably is caused by ultrafast laser pulse and the other at the back of the primary pulse is caused by the Fabry-Perot (F-P) etalon effect of detector. We attempt to remove the corresponding echoes by using two kinds of deconvolution. A Si wafer of 400μm was selected as the tested sample. Firstly, the method of double Gaussian filter (DGF) decnvolution was used to remove the systematic echoes, and then another deconvolution technique was employed to eliminate the two obvious echoes of the sample. The ultimate results indicated: although the combination of two deconvolution techniques could not entirely remove the echoes of sample and system, the echoes were largely reduced.
Studies on electromagnetic response in arc-shaped structures in terahertz region
Lan Shi, Qingli Zhou, Huijuan Sun, et al.
In this paper, we use the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to simulate and study the electromagnetic response characteristics of ring and arc-shaped resonators. Firstly, we study the terahertz transmission properties of two single-ring resonators with different radii. Either the single-ring resonator with a large radius or with a small radius only has one resonance in the transmission spectra. Then, we combine those resonators into a double-ring resonator structure. The results conclude that the two resonant frequencies of the double-ring resonator are caused by the simple superposition of the resonances of the large and small radius single-ring resonators, respectively. Additionally, on the basis of a single-ring resonator, we also study the influence of the symmetrical and asymmetric arc-shaped resonators on electromagnetic response characteristics. The ring resonator is split from the middle into two symmetrical arc-shaped resonators. As the width of the middle gap gradually increases, the resonant frequency shows blueshift and the intensity of the surface current distribution gradually weakens. Finally, the direction of the current is reversed. In order to further compare the relationship between the single-ring resonators and the double-ring resonators, we study the double arc-shaped resonators. The main purpose of this paper is to study the frequency response characteristics of the ring resonator in the terahertz band and to control the terahertz spectrum by changing the symmetry of the ring resonator. In the future, we can further study the coupling response between the ring structures and the multi-frequency response modulation of the multi-ring structures.
Characterizing the hydration state of L-threonine in solution using terahertz time-domain attenuated total reflection spectroscopy
The hydration of biomolecules is closely related to the dynamic process of their functional expression, therefore, characterizing hydration phenomena is a subject of keen interest. However, direct measurements on the global hydration state of biomolecules couldn’t have been acquired using traditional techniques such as thermodynamics, ultrasound, microwave spectroscopy or viscosity, etc. In order to realize global hydration characterization of amino acid such as L-threonine, terahertz time-domain attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (THz-TDS-ATR) was adopted in this paper. By measuring the complex permittivity of L-threonine solutions with various concentrations in the THz region, the hydration state and its concentration dependence were obtained, indicating that the number of hydrous water decreased with the increase of concentration. The hydration number was evaluated to be 17.8 when the molar concentration of L-threonine was 0.34 mol/L, and dropped to 13.2 when the molar concentration increased to 0.84 mol/L, when global hydration was taken into account. According to the proposed direct measurements, it is believed that the THz-TDS-ATR technique is a powerful tool for studying the picosecond molecular dynamics of amino acid solutions.
Light field imaging and application analysis in THz
Hongfei Zhang, Bo Su, Jingsuo He, et al.
The light field includes the direction information and location information. Light field imaging can capture the whole light field by single exposure. The four-dimensional light field function model represented by two-plane parameter, which is proposed by Levoy, is adopted in the light field. Acquisition of light field is based on the microlens array, camera array and the mask. We calculate the dates of light-field to synthetize light field image. The processing techniques of light field data include technology of refocusing rendering, technology of synthetic aperture and technology of microscopic imaging. Introducing the technology of light field imaging into THz, the efficiency of 3D imaging is higher than that of conventional THz 3D imaging technology. The advantages compared with visible light field imaging include large depth of field, wide dynamic range and true three-dimensional. It has broad application prospects.
Studies on the resonant properties in the asymmetric dipole-array terahertz metamaterials
Wei Chen, Qingli Zhou, Chenyu Li, et al.
Artificial metamaterials with appropriate design can exhibit unique electromagnetic phenomena which do not exist in natural materials. Some studies have shown that the method of breaking the geometric symmetry is capable to modify the electromagnetic response, such as the metamaterial induced transparency in the Fano resonators. In this work, by using the finite-difference time-domain method, we firstly simulate the process that terahertz wave interacts with double-bar structures, in which one bar length is fixed at 36 μm and the other bar length is set to be 12, 24, 36, 48, and 56 μm, respectively. The incident terahertz polarization is along the bar direction. Simulated results show when the variable bar length is less than 36 μm, there is only one obvious resonant dip in transmission spectrum. Meanwhile, with the decreased bar length, this dip frequency presents a slight blueshift. Additionally, by tuning the spacing vertical to bar direction between these two bars, it still exhibits one dip. This result indicates the short bar less than 36 μm does not play important role and the coupling between vertical bars is weak. However, when the variable bar length is larger than 36 μm there are two obvious Fano-shaped resonant dips. With the increased bar length, the low-frequency dip shows a remarkable redshift, while the high-frequency one is almost unchanged. By further tuning the bar spacing vertical to the bar direction, two dips always exist. This phenomenon implies that the coupling between horizontal bars is dominated in this process. Moreover, the metamaterial induced transparency window is found between two resonant dips. The appearance of the resonances is attributed to the excitation of trapped mode. Our obtained results indicate that such metamaterials with very simple configuration could also provide the potential application in the field of terahertz slow-light devices, amplitude and phase modulators.
Fabrication and performance of a double layered Mn-Co-Ni-O/Mn-Co-Ni-Cu-O thin film detector
Wei Zhou, Yiming Yin, Niangjuan Yao, et al.
A thermal sensitive infrared and THz detector was fabricated by a double layered Mn-Co-Ni-O/Mn-Co-Ni-Cu-O films. The Mn-Co-Ni-O material, as one type of transition metal oxides, has long been used as a candidate for thermal sensors or infrared detectors. The resistivity of a most important Mn-Co-Ni-O thin film, Mn1. 96Co0.96Ni0.48O4(MCN) , is about 200 Ω·cm at room temperature, which ranges about 2 orders larger than that of VOx detectors. Therefore, the thickness of a typical squared Mn-Co-Ni-O IR detector should be about 10 μm, which is too large for focal plane arrays applications. To reduce the resistivity of Mn-Co-Ni-O thin film, 1/6 of Co element was replaced by Cu. Meanwhile, a cover layer of MCN film was deposited onto the Mn-Co-Ni-Cu-O film to improve the long term stability. The detector fabricated by the double layered Mn-Co-Ni-O/Mn-Co-Ni-Cu-O films showed large response to blackbody and 170 GHz radiation. The NEP of the detector was estimated to be the order of 10-8 W/Hz0. 5. By applying thermal isolation structure and additional absorption materials, the detection performance can be largely improved by 1-2 orders according to numerical estimation. The double layered Mn-Co-Ni-O film detector shows great potentials in applications in large scale IR detection arrays, and broad-band imaging.
Study on THz wave generation from air plasma induced by quasi-square Airy beam
Shijing Zhang, Liangliang Zhang, Guangtong Jiang, et al.
Terahertz (THz) wave has attracted considerable attention in recent years because of its potential applications. The intense THz waves generated from air plasma induced by two-color femtosecond laser are widely used due to its high generation efficiency and broad frequency bandwidth. The parameters of the laser change the distribution of the air plasma, and then affect the generation of THz wave. In this research, we investigate the THz wave generation from air plasma induced by quasi-square Airy beam. Unlike the common Gauss beam, the quasi-square Airy beam has ability to autofocus and to increase the maximum intensity at the focus. By using the spatial light modulator (SLM), we can change the parameters of phase map to control the shape of the Airy beam. We obtain the two-color laser field by a 100-um-thick BBO crystal, then use a Golay detector to record THz wave energy. By comparing terahertz generation at different modulation depths, we find that terahertz energy produced by quasi-square Airy beam is up to 3.1 times stronger than that of Gauss beam with identical laser energy. In order to understand the influence of quasi-square Airy beam on the BBO crystal, we record THz wave energy by changing the azimuthal angle of BBO crystal with Gauss beam and Airy beam at different modulation depths. We find that the trend of terahertz energy with respect to the azimuthal angle of the BBO crystal keeps the same for different laser beams. We believe that the quasi-square Airy beam or other auto focusing beam can significantly improve the efficiency of terahertz wave generation and pave the way for its applications.
Characterization of the terahertz frequency optical constants of tourmaline
The absorption coefficient and refractive index of the tourmaline in different directions have been firstly characterized by the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. Results show that the absorption and refractive index of terahertz are much related with the tourmaline structure. And the absorption along the optical axis direction is more sensitive than that of the vertical direction. Such a result indicates that the identification and characterization of crystals as well as minerals can be realized by the THz method.
Integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer on the end facet of multicore fiber for refractive index sensing application
Yanwen Qi, Siyao Zhang, Shengfei Feng, et al.
A sensitive, real-time seven core optical fiber based Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor for liquid refractive index detection is proposed, fabricated and characterized. A trapezoid body with an inverted wedge shape groove in the center is used to design the MZI. The two ends of the trapezoid body play the roles of micro-prisms, and the middle parts of the trapezoid body and the groove play the roles of reference and sensing arms. A series of performance tests were carried out by immersing the sensor in different kinds of solutions to verify the universal applicability of the sensor. The MZI sensor is as small as only 43 μm × 8 μm, and at the same time with sensitivity of 1616 nm/RIU. Nominally, we realized a completely integrated optical sensing system. And, this system actually could be the building block of more powerful integrated chemical sensing chip for health, security and industry application.
The improvement of surface roughness for OAP aluminum mirrors: from terahertz to ultraviolet
Jilong Peng, Qian Yu, Yajun Shao, et al.
Aluminum reflector, especially OAP (Off-Axis Parabolic) reflector, has been widely used in terahertz and infrared systems for its low cost, lightweight, good machinability, small size, simple structure, and having the same thermal expansion and contraction with the system structure which makes it have a wide temperature adaptability. Thorlabs, Daheng and other large optical components companies even have Aluminum OAP sold on shelf. Most of the precision Aluminum OAP is fabricated by SPDT (single point diamond turing). Affected by intermittent shock, the roughness of aluminum OAP mirrors through conventional single-point diamond lathes is around 7 nm which limits the scope of application for aluminum mirrors, like in the high power density terahertz/infrared systems and visible/UV optical systems. In this paper, a continuous process frock is proposed, which effectively reduces the influence of turning impact on the mirror roughness. Using this process, an off-axis parabolic aluminum reflector with an effective diameter of 50 mm, off-axis angle of 90 degree is fabricated, and the performances are validated. Measurement by VEECO NT1100 optical profiler with 20× objects, the surface roughness achieves 2.3 nm, and the surface figure error is within λ/7 RMS (λ= 632.8 nm) tested by FISB Aμ Phase laser interferometer with the help of a standard flat mirror. All these technical specifications are close to the traditional glass-based reflectors, and make it possible for using Aluminum reflectors in the higher LIDT (laser induced damage threshold) systems and even for the micro sensor of ionospheric for vacuum ultraviolet micro nano satellites.