By utilizing the sub-wavelength metallic structures in the active region of the photomixer, the confinement and concentration of electric field from optical pump lasers on a photoconductive substrate can be efficiently achieved as these sub-wavelength metallic structures are exhibiting the nano-antenna effect over a high index photoconductive substrate. Designing the sub-wavelength metallic structures, branch-like nano-electrodes structures, a new strategy to improve carrier capture was developed in which more carrier collection points occupy across the area of the pumping laser source. These branch-like nano-electrode structures were found to improve THz emission intensity of a photomixer by approximately one order of magnitude and optical-to-THz conversion efficiency by 10 times higher than that of photomixer with one row of nano-electrodes separated by the same 100nm gap. The enhancement is attributed to a more efficient collection of generated carriers due to a more intense electric field under the branch-like nano-electrodes structures. This is coupled with increased effective areas where strong tip-to-tip THz field enhancements were observed. The more efficient THz photomixer will greatly benefit the development of continuous wave THz imaging and spectroscopy system.

In this work a new plasmonic thin-film based terahertz photoconductive antenna is proposed. The computational method utilized to design the antenna is outlined, as well as the steps and preliminary results for the fabrication and characterization of the device. The model predicted over two orders of magnitude increase in the peak photocurrent as compared to a conventional device design, while slightly reducing the width of the induced current pulse. This indicates that the proposed design will be effective as a high efficiency terahertz emitter. In addition to the computational modeling, preliminary results demonstrating the proposed fabrication processes and experimental characterization are presented. It is demonstrated that when using a pyroelectric detector to quantify the output terahertz power it is important to first quantify the power of the IR photons generated by thermal relaxation in the device.

We report the characterization of centimeter sized graphene field-effect transistors with ionic gating which enables active frequency and amplitude modulation of terahertz (THz) radiation. Chemical vapour deposited graphene with different grain sizes were studied using THz time-domain spectroscopy. We demonstrate that the plasmonic resonances intrinsic to graphene can be tuned over a wide range of THz frequencies by engineering the grain size of the graphene. Further frequency tuning of the resonance, up to ~65 GHz, is achieved by electrostatic doping via ionic gating. These results present the first demonstration of tuning the intrinsic plasmonic resonances in graphene.

THz rays have higher penetration depth compared to infrared rays and hence can be effectively used to measure tablet coating thickness. In addition, THz wavelength (1 mm - 0.1 mm) provides an optimal depth resolution for the thickness measurement. This method can be non-invasive and hence ideal for inline quality monitoring. Tablet coating thickness is one of the major parameters of interest in Process Analytical Technology (PAT). In this paper, a reflection mode Continuous Wave (CW) Terahertz (THz) system has been employed to measure the tablet coating thickness. A frequency scan of the sample has been carried out from 0.1 THz to 1.1 THz and the reflection coefficient of the sample is inverse fourier transformed to obtain the tablet thickness. The calculated thickness has also been validated using the optical microscope. Results show that the thickness can be measured with considerable accuracy.

We demonstrate that speckle patterns at the output of multimode optical waveguides can be used for a compressive sensing (CS) measurement matrix (MM) to measure sparse RF signals in the GHz band (1-100 GHz). In our system mode-locked femtosecond laser pulses are stretched to a width on the order of the interpulse time, modulated by the RF, and injected into a multimode waveguide. The speckle pattern out of the guide is imaged onto an array of photodiodes whose output is digitized by a bank of ADCs. We have measured the CS MM for multimode fibers and used these MMs to demonstrate that sparse RF signals (sparsity K) modulated on a chirped optical carrier can be recovered from M measurements (the number of photodiodes) consistent with the CS relation M ~ K log(N/K) (N is the number of samples needed for Nyquist rate sampling). We demonstrate experimentally that speckle sampling gives comparable results to the photonic WDM sampling system used previously for periodic undersampling (multi-coset sampling) of RF chirp pulses. We have also calculated MMs for both multimode fibers and planar waveguides using their respective mode solutions to determine optimal waveguide parameters for a CS system. Our results suggest a path to a CS system for GHz band RF signals that can be completely constructed using photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology.

Oxygen shows significant absorption lines in the millimeter wave spectrum. Resonators are widely used to achieve a strong absorption even with a short absorption paths length for concentration measurements. A sensor system based on a Fabry-Pérot resonator for oxygen measurements at ambient pressure is presented here. The Fabry-Pérot resonator consists of two metal mirrors with a diameter of 50 mm. For purpose of oxygen detection the resonator covers a frequency range between 55 GHz and 65 GHz with a resonant peak density between 1 GHz and 1.5 GHz, depending on the mirror distance, and a quality factor of approximately 7000. To achieve a compact sensor system the concept envisages two integrated transceiver circuits directly coupling to coaxial ports in the metal mirrors of the resonator. The integrated SiGe front-end addresses a frequency band from 50 GHz to 75 GHz. They are realized as heterodyne structures with integrated directional couplers, thus it is possible to measure scattering parameters. For first oxygen concentration measurements, the resonator sample was coupled to a commercially available Vector Network Analyzer. The cavity was filled with oxygen concentrations of 0% vol. and 20% vol. at ambient pressure and temperature resulting in a significant change of the quality factor for frequencies close to the oxygen absorption line at 60.6 GHz. The sensor does not contain hot components. This is an advantage compared to other oxygen sensors, like electrochemical or metal-oxide sensors.

A 100-GHz narrowband photoreceiver module integrated with a zero-bias operational uni-traveling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) and a GaAs-based pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (pHEMT) amplifier was fabricated and characterized. Both devices exhibited flat frequency response and outstanding overall performance. The UTC-PD showed a 3-dB bandwidth beyond 110 GHz while the pHEMT amplifier featured low power consumption and a gain of 24 dB over the 85-100 GHz range. A butterfly metal package equipped with a 1.0 mm (W) coaxial connector and a microstrip-coplanar waveguide conversion substrate was designed for low insertion loss and low return loss. The fabricated photoreceiver module demonstrated high conversion gain, a maximum output power of +9.5 dBm at 96 GHz, and DC-power consumption of 0.21 W.

A Microwave domain characterization technique is proposed to measure the optical properties of high quality factor optical resonators, featuring a very high precision in frequency which can be as good as 1 Hz. It aims to acquire a full knowledge of the complex transfer function (amplitude and phase) characterizing these resonators. It is shown that the amplitude response gives access to the measure of several parameters like the free spectral range and the quality factor. Moreover the phase transition at the resonance is used to define the coupling regime and to calculate the resonator parameters: transmission coefficient and intra-cavity losses.

Terahertz (THz) imaging is emerging as a robust platform for a myriad of applications in the fields of security, health, astronomy and material science. The terahertz regime with wavelengths spanning from microns to millimeters is a potentially safe and noninvasive medical imaging modality for detecting cancers. Endoscopic imaging systems provide high flexibility in examining the interior surfaces of an organ or tissue. Researchers have been working on the development of THz endoscopes with photoconductive antennas, which necessarily operate under high voltage, and require at least two channels to measure the reflected signal from the specimen. This manuscript provides the design and imperative steps involved in the development of a single-channel terahertz endoscopic system. The continuous-wave terahertz imaging system utilizes a single flexible terahertz waveguide channel to transmit and collect the back reflected intrinsic terahertz signal from the sample and is capable of operation in both transmission and reflection modalities. To determine the feasibility of using a terahertz endoscope for cancer detection, the co- and cross-polarized terahertz remittance from human colonic tissue specimens were collected at 584 GHz frequency. The two dimensional terahertz images obtained using polarization specific detection exhibited intrinsic contrast between cancerous and normal regions of fresh colorectal tissue. The level of contrast observed using endoscopic imaging correlates well with the contrast levels observed in the free space ex vivo terahertz reflectance studies of human colonic tissue. The prototype device developed in this study represents a significant step towards clinical endoscopic application of THz technology for in vivo colon cancer screening.

Diffractive silicon microlens with ten staircases is designed and analyzed in this paper. The power distribution at the focal plane of the microlens is calculated and frequency dependence and focusing performance of the microlens is also evaluated by a FDTD method The simulation results show the diffractive lens has a good ability of focusing at 0.3 THz and around, and thus it can improve the coupling efficiency of the incident power into the Nb₅N₆ microbolometers. Development of a focal plane array (FPA) using such devices as detectors is favorable since diffractive microlens array has many advantages, such as light weight, low absorption loss, high resolution, and the most important point is that the microlens array can be easily integrated by ready mass production using standard micro-fabrication techniques.

We present a new design for optical synthetic aperture imaging based on developments in optical coherence tomography. We detail the expected performance and feasibility of using this imaging system from low earth orbit for high resolution imaging of the ground.

There are severe limitations that photoconductive (PC) terahertz (THz) antennas experience due to Joule heating and ohmic losses, which cause premature device breakdown through thermal runaway. In response, this work introduces PC THz antennas utilizing textured InP semiconductors. These textured InP semiconductors exhibit high surface recombination properties and have shortened carrier lifetimes which limit residual photocurrents in the picoseconds following THz pulse emission—ultimately reducing Joule heating and ohmic losses. Fine- and coarse-textured InP semiconductors are studied and compared to a smooth-textured InP semiconductor, which provides a baseline. The surface area ratio (measuring roughness) of the smooth-, fine-, and coarse-textured InP semiconductors is resolved through a computational analysis of SEM images and found as 1.0 ± 0.1, 2.9 ± 0.4, and 4.3 ± 0.6, respectively. The carrier lifetimes of the smooth-, fine-, and coarse-textured InP semiconductors are found as respective values of 200 ± 6, 100 ± 10, and 20 ± 3 ps when measured with a pump-probe experimental system. The emitted THz electric fields and corresponding consumption of photocurrent are measured with a THz experimental setup. The temporal and spectral responses of PC THz antennas made with each of the textured InP semiconductors are found to be similar; however, the consumption of photocurrent (relating to Joule heating and ohmic losses) is greatly diminished for the semiconductors that are textured. The findings of this work can assist in engineering of small-scale PC THz antennas for high-power operation, where they are extremely vulnerable to premature device breakdown through thermal runaway.

Free space focusing of terahertz light is normally achieved through the use of bulky parabolic mirrors. Alternatively, for focusing onto a substrate or sample, polished high resistivity silicon lenses are commonly used. This paper presents the design, fabrication and testing of an alternative approach, based on Fresnel microlenses which have been optimised for use in the terahertz region. The microlenses are fabricated using layers of SU-8 photoresist and conventional UV photolithography. The lens design approach presented here provides a low cost, mass production ready alternative to silicon lenses. Fresnel lenses can have a large numerical aperture and a short focal length and are well suited for use in terahertz imaging systems. The focal point of the demonstrated Fresnel microlens has been calculated to be approximately 5 mm at 1 THz using a commercial FDTD solver, Lumerical. Characterization of the microlenses by VNA (Vector Network Analyzer) operating in the frequency range of 750 GHz to 1.1 THz is presented and discussed. The measured focal length using the VNA approach corresponds well to the values calculated using the FDTD solver and demonstrates effective focusing from highly compact lenses.

Metamaterials are artificial materials not exist in the nature. They are also known as Left Handed Material (LHM) in which both the permeability and permittivity are negative. A perfect absorber metamaterial for millimeter wavelength can be artificially tailored and manufactured as two dimensional matrixes of metal shapes on a dielectric substrate. Those perfect absorbers metamaterial can be designed to be frequency selective with high Q property. In This study we present a new method that can provide real-time response by combining advanced spectroscopy methods in millimeter Wavelength (MMW) regime and perfect absorber metamaterial. This method is based on very inexpensive perfect absorber metamaterial, with a high Q factor. It was realized by printed metal shapes on FR4 substrate with ground plane on the bottom. The resonance frequency of the perfect absorber will be determined according to the geometrical metal shape dimensions and the dielectric constant of the substrate. The spectral measurements were carried out using high resolution coherence THz spectroscopy system. Due to the perfect absorber sensitivity and its high Q property, the perfect absorber metamaterial is very sensitive to environmental micro-poisons, which influence its resonance frequency. Using a high-resolution spectroscopy system it is possible to detect and quantify this influence. In this study we present very promising experimental results of Malathion detection using perfect absorber metamaterial. The manufacturing of such perfect absorber metamaterial was carried out using the well-known and very inexpensive PCB technology.

Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells are increasingly gaining importance as a clean energy source. PEMs need to possess high proton conductivity and should be chemically and mechanically stable in the fuel cell environment. Proton conductivity of PEM in fuel cells is directly proportional to water content in the membrane. Among the various PEMs available, Nafion has high proton conductivity even with low water content compared to SPEEK (Sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone)) but is also expensive. SPEEK membranes and it’s composites have better mechanical properties and have comparatively higher thermal stability. Operating the fuel cell at higher temperatures and at the same time maintaining the water content of the membrane is always a great challenge. In this paper, to increase water retention capacity, Nafion, SPEEK and it’s composite (SPEEK PSSA-CNT) membranes are exposed to Ultra-Violet (UV) radiation for varied times. Terahertz Spectroscopy, in both pulsed and CW mode has been used as an efficient tool to quantify the water retention of the membrane. Results using Terahertz spectroscopy show that even though the initial water absorption capacity of Nafion membranes is more, SPEEK membranes and it’s composites show considerable improvement in the water retention capacity upon high intensity UV irradiation.

Fabrication, characterization, and applications of a fast rotary linear optical delay line (FRLODL) for THz time-domain spectroscopy are presented. The FRLODL features two reflective surfaces with spatially separated incoming and outgoing beams. It has been manufactured using CNC machining. A linear dependence of the optical delay on the rotation angle allows a straightforward extraction of the conversion factor between the acquisition time (in ms) and the terahertz pulse time (in ps). The FRLODL has been tested using rotation speeds of up to 48 Hz, corresponding to an acquisition rate of up to 192 Hz with four blades incorporated on the same disk. At high speeds we observe a decrease of the bandwidth due to the limitations of the electronics, in particular, the transimpedance amplifier. An error analysis is performed by experimentally evaluating the signal-to-noise ratio and the dynamic range. With regard to the applications of the FRLODL, we first present observation of the evaporation of liquids, namely water, acetone and methanol. We then demonstrate monitoring of the spray painting process. Finally, detection of fast moving objects at 1 m/s and their thickness characterization are presented.

In this report, a novel type of highly sensitive small molecule sensing tool has been employed to detect residual pesticide molecules including e. g. methomyl using terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) system with nano-slotantenna array. Enhance THz wave by the nano-slot-antenna array induces strong THz field enhancement around nano antenna and thus increases an absorption cross section leading to the detection sensitivity upto ppm level even in solution state. Measured spectrums in transmission and reflection show an excellent performance in both sensitivity and selectivity. We also tested the performance of our nano-antenna array in reflection imaging geometry to simply detect the contained residual pesticide at the real fruit surface as it is, without any extraction or sampling preprocess. The clear difference in the obtained THz reflection image distinguishes the stained area with methomyl from the bare area. Our observation can offer the possibility for further application as a prompt and an accurate small molecule monitoring tool in real time. A quantitative analysis tool for such small molecule can be also developed by this method.

Remote sensing using the pulsed THz-TDS is of great interest because of its possible practical applications. Many ordinary materials (paper, for example) are transparent to THz radiation while the hazardous substances, which have to detect, possess fingerprints in this frequency range. However, cover of ordinary material can distort its spectrum in such a way that the spectrum of reflected THz pulse or transmitted THz pulse will contain absorption frequencies, which are inherent to dangerous substance (explosives, illistic drugs....), despite their absence in the material under consideration. This is a consequence of covering material influence due to its density fluctuation or its structure variation, for example. As rule, covering material structure fluctuation may be comparable with some wavelengths of the probing THz radiation. Thus, the cover can act as a disordered photonic structure with respect to incident THz pulse and its action results in additional absorption spectral lines appearance and in turn, the incorrect substance identification will take place. In this paper we discuss an influence of quasi-periodic structure with variable dielectric constant on the spectrum of a substance, which is placed behind or inside such structure. The investigation is conducted by means of computer simulation. We consider a single layer of optically active substance placed between two covers consisting of linear layers with random dielectric permittivity. Incident Gaussian pulse with a few-cycles falls on the substance covered by layers. Both transmitted pulse and reflected pulse are analyzed and their spectra are compared to those of the incident pulse. For description of a THz pulse interaction with an optically active substance covered by disordered structures we use the Maxwell’s equations together with matrix-density formalism. The appearance of additional spectrum extremes due to the layered structure influence is illustrated. Computer simulation results were confirmed by physical experiment. We provided the experiments with paper bag, and ordinary sheets of paper, and napkins

In the recent progress in terahertz (THz) devices, various kinds of source devices, such as resonant tunneling diodes, quantum cascade lasers and so forth, have been developed. Frequency measurement of THz radiations, which can operate in high speed and at room-temperature, is important for development of high-performance THz source devices. Recently, frequency measurement using optical combs are demonstrated by several groups. In these techniques, modelocked lasers (MLLs) are used for optical comb source, so that phase-locking techniques are required in order to stabilize the repetition frequency of the MLLs. On the other hand, a modulator-based optical comb generator has high accuracy and stability in the comb spacing, which is comparable to that of microwave signal driving the modulator. Thus it is suitable for frequency measurement of THz waves. In this paper, we demonstrated frequency measurement of THz waves using a Mach-Zehnder-modulator-based flat comb generator (MZ-FCG). The frequency measurement was carried out by an electro-optic (EO) sampling method, where an optical two-tone signal extracted from the optical comb generated by the MZ-FCG was used for the probe light. A 100 GHz signal generated by a W-band frequency multiplier and the probe beam collinearly traveled through an EO crystal, and beat signals between them were measured by a combination of a balanced photodetector and a spectrum analyzer. As a result, frequency measurement of the 100 GHz wave was successfully demonstrated, in which the linewidth of the beat signal was less than 1 Hz.

Optoelectronic oscillators are used for a wide variety of applications in microwave photonics. We here report the latest advances in this technology from our research group, with emphasis on the analysis of phase noise performance. We present a stochastic modelling approach for phase noise performance analysis of optoelectronic oscillators based on whispering gallery mode resonators and/or optical fiber delay lines, and the theory is complemented with experimental measurements. We provide a detailed theoretical analysis which enables us to find the stationary states of the system as well as their stability. Our calculations also permit to find explicit formulas for the phase noise spectra, thereby allowing for their optimization.

In this paper, we propose an all-optical real-time data format conversion system to realize the efficient-utilization of the spectrum resource in the FBG sensing network. In the data format conversion unit, frequency domain sensing signals reflected by FBGs are converted into optical time division multiplexing signals with a specified wavelength in real time. Format converted data from each node are sent back to the control center for demodulation. Experimentally, data format conversion and demodulation of one sensing node is carried out with different temperature and static strain. The spectra of sensing pulses before and after data format conversion indicates that the data format conversion is successful and the spectrum resource in this node is released.

In this paper, wavelengths parallel swept technique is proposed by using an optical swept loop outside the laser cavity. A frequency shifter controlled by RF signal in the loop shifts the frequencies of the incident optical signals simultaneously with a constant value in every circulation. Experimentally, the outputs of two distributed feed back (DFB) lasers were parallel swept by using the optical swept loop. The swept step is tunable from 300MHz(24pm) to 15GHz(0.12nm) depending on the electro-optical bandwidth of the frequency shifter used in our experiments. Dual-wavelength swept output at 214 kHz swept rate with 0.08nm swept step and 122 kHz swept rate with 0.04nm swept step were achieved respectively. The swept span of the swept source was 1.6nm with a flatness of ±1.5dB.

In this paper we report a new approach to linking the terahertz spectral shapes of drug candidates having a similar molecular structure to their chemical and physical parameters. We examined 27 newly-synthesized derivatives of a well-known nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Piroxicam used for treatment of inflammatory arthritis and chemoprevention of colon cancer. The testing was carried out by means of terahertz pulsed spectroscopy (TPS). Using chemometric techniques we evaluated their spectral similarity in the terahertz range and attempted to link the position on the principal component analysis (PCA) score map to the similarity of molecular descriptors. A simplified spectral model preserved 75% and 85.1% of the variance in 2 and 3 dimensions respectively, compared to the input 1137. We have found that in 85% of the investigated samples a similarity of the physical and chemical parameters corresponds to a similarity in the terahertz spectra. The effects of data preprocessing on the generated maps are also discussed. The technique presented can support the choice of the most promising drug candidates for clinical trials in pharmacological research.

We present investigations of photoconductive antennas (PCA) based on low temperature grown GaAs (LT GaAs) on silicon substrates for terahertz (THz) generation and detection. The PCAs consist of 2 μm thick layers of LT GaAs grown on a high resistivity silicon substrate in order to reduce the intrinsic absorption losses around 8 THz due to a strong phonon resonance in GaAs. Using 20 fs long pump pulses around 800 nm and dipole antennas with dipole lengths between 20 μm and 60 μm a maximum bandwidth up to 12 THz and a maximum dynamic range exceeding 90 dB at 0.5 THz were obtained. The average output power was measured with a calibrated detector to be 95 μW at a repetition rate of 80 MHz.

A sophisticated THz system with 3D imaging and narrow band spectroscopy capability is presented in the paper. The key system components are the THz source, THz detector/mixer array, scanning optics, and the signal processing unit. The system is all electronic and is portable. A battery operation option allows several hours of autonomy. The most important parameters of the THz source are output power, illumination beam size and directivity, frequency modulation range, and maximal modulation frequency. The low phase noise is also a very important parameter. Optimization of these parameters is discussed in the paper. The THz source is all solid state, composed of a phase-locked oscillator, an amplifier, and frequency multipliers. The most important element of the THz system is its sensor, which performs both signal detection and at the same time mixing of the LO signal and received signal from the target. The sensor is antenna coupled nanobolometer fabricated in a linear array of eight pixels. The sensors are suspended in the vacuum to achieve an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. The quadratic characteristic of the nano-bolometer extends over six decades allowing a large dynamic range and very high LO signal levels. The scanning mirror integrated into the system allows imaging of 1024 to 8162 pixels in the x and y dimensions that are expanded to the third dimension with a resolution of few micrometers.

A fiber-coupled Terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system based on photoconductive antennas, pumped by a 100-fs fiber laser, has been used to characterize materials in transmission and reflection mode. THz images are acquired by mounting the samples under investigation on an x-y stage, which is stepped through the beam while the transmitted or reflected THz waveform is captured. The samples include a carbon fiber epoxy composite and a sandwich-structured composite panel with an aramid fiber honeycomb core in between two skin layers of fiberglass reinforced plastic. The former has an artificially induced void, and from a comparison of recorded reflected time-domain signals, with and without the void, a simple model for the structure of the composite is proposed that describes the time-domain signals reasonably well.

The quantum nature of photonic systems is reflected in the photon statistics of the light they emit. Therefore, the development of quantum optics tools with single photon sensitivity and excellent temporal resolution is paramount to the development of exotic sources, and is particularly challenging in the THz range where photon energies approach k_bT at T=300 K. Here, we report on the first room temperature measurement of field g¹(τ) and intensity correlations g²(τ) in the THz range with sub-cycle temporal resolution (146 fs) over the bandwidth 0.3-3 THz, based on electro-optic sampling. With this system, we are able to measure the photon statistics at threshold of a THz Quantum Cascade Laser.

A terahertz (THz) photo-mixing with a THz wave photo-mixer module using a uni-traveling-carrier photodiode (UTCPD) and home-built 1 μm-band ASE-free tunable external-cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) provides a narrow-band (40 MHz) wide range (up to 4.5 THz) coherent tunable THz light source system. Obtained THz-waves reach 100 nW at 0.9 THz and 100 pW at 4.0 THz. The difference frequency between mixing lights can be tuned over 20 THz, and the frequency tuning has a resettability and an accuracy corresponding to the estimation error of FSR 270 MHz hollow-core etalon as a frequency calibrator, around 1 MHz/THz. Some of dips in the frequency dependence of THz-waves caused by water vaper absorption reach a noise floor of this system, so the dynamic range of this system is demonstrated at least 40 dB in power ratio.

Photonic microwave down-conversion using period-one nonlinear dynamics of semiconductor lasers is proposed, which provides high conversion efficiency and requires no local oscillators. Experimental demonstration of microwaves at 33.7GHz down-converted to a frequency ranging from 10 to 14 GHz is presented.

A hybrid polymer/InP dual DBR laser at 1.5μm is presented as an optical source for heterodyne generation and detection of cw-THz signals. The device consists of an active InP chip as an active gain element, end-fire coupled to a polymer chip with thermo-optically tunable phase shifters and Bragg gratings. Mode-hop-free tuning of 1.1 THz has been achieved on the single DBR lasers. The usability of such sources for heterodyne cw-THz generation has been demonstrated in a coherent cw-THz setup. Scans in the THz range show a resolution of the H₂O absorption lines comparable to the results achievable with commercially-available external-cavity diode lasers.

We successfully demonstrate a THz generation using an ytterbium (Yb)-doped mode-locked femtosecond fiber laser and a home-made low-temperature grown (LTG) InGaAs Photoconductive antenna (PCA) module for THz Time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) systems. The Yb-doped fiber ring laser consists of a pump laser diode (PLD), a wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) coupler, a single-mode fiber (SMF), a 25 cm-long highly Yb-doped fiber, two collimators, two quarter wave plates (QWPs), a half-wave plate (HWP), a 10 nm broadband band pass filter, an isolator, and a polarizing beam splitter (PBS). In order to achieve the passively mode-locked optical short pulse, the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) effect is used. The achieved center wavelength and the 3 dB bandwidth of the modelocked fiber laser are 1.03 μm and ~ 15.6 nm, respectively. It has 175 fs duration after pulse compression with 66.2 MHz repetition rate. The average output power of mode-locked laser has more than 275 mW. The LTG-InGaAs PCA modules are used as the emitter and receiver in order to achieve the THz radiation. The PCA modules comprise a hyper-hemispherical Si lens and a log-spiral antenna-integrated LTG-InGaAs PCA chip electronically contacted on a printed circuit board (PCB). An excitation optical average pumping and probing power were ~ 6.3 mW and 5 mW, respectively. The free-space distance between the emitter and the receiver in the THz-TDS system was 70 mm. The spectrum of the THz radiation is achieved higher than 1.5 THz.

The growing interest in terahertz (THz) technologies in recent years has seen a wide range of demonstrated applications, spanning from security screening, non-destructive testing, gas sensing, to biomedical imaging and communication. Communication with THz radiation offers the advantage of much higher bandwidths than currently available, in an unallocated spectrum. For this to be realized, optoelectronic components capable of manipulating THz radiation at high speeds and high signal-to-noise ratios must be developed. In this work we demonstrate a room temperature frequency dependent optoelectronic amplitude modulator working at around 2 THz, which incorporates graphene as the tuning medium. The architecture of the modulator is an array of plasmonic dipole antennas surrounded by graphene. By electrostatically doping the graphene via a back gate electrode, the reflection characteristics of the modulator are modified. The modulator is electrically characterized to determine the graphene conductivity and optically characterization, by THz time-domain spectroscopy and a single-mode 2 THz quantum cascade laser, to determine the optical modulation depth and cut-off frequency. A maximum optical modulation depth of ~ 30% is estimated and is found to be most (least) sensitive when the electrical modulation is centered at the point of maximum (minimum) differential resistivity of the graphene. A 3 dB cut-off frequency > 5 MHz, limited only by the area of graphene on the device, is reported. The results agree well with theoretical calculations and numerical simulations, and demonstrate the first steps towards ultra-fast, graphene based THz optoelectronic devices.

Atom-based radio-frequency (RF) electric field probes have the potential to improve electric field measurements for a broad range of frequencies (from a few GHz to 100s of GHz) and field strengths (mV/m to kV/m). For these probes to become a common measurement method, their range must be extended to high frequency (>100 GHz) and low field strength regimes. We present SI-traceable electric field measurements of RF fields above 100 GHz, using Autler-Townes splitting of Rydberg electromagnetically-induced transparency in a rubidium (Rb) vapor. We also demonstrate several techniques, including RF detuning from resonance and enhanced absorption, for increasing the probe sensitivity.

In this paper I will describe work done as part of an EU-funded project ‘Far-infrared space interferometer critical assessment’ (FISICA). The aim of the project is to investigate science objectives and technology development required for the next generation THz space interferometer. The THz/FIR is precisely the spectral region where most of the energy from stars, exo-planetary systems and galaxy clusters deep in space is emitted. The atmosphere is almost completely opaque in the wave-band of interest so any observation that requires high quality data must be performed with a space-born instrument. A space-borne far infrared interferometer will be able to answer a variety of crucial astrophysical questions such as how do planets and stars form, what is the energy engine of most galaxies and how common are the molecule building blocks of life. The FISICA team have proposed a novel instrument based on a double Fourier interferometer that is designed to resolve the light from an extended scene, spectrally and spatially. A laboratory prototype spectral-spatial interferometer has been constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of the double-Fourier technique at far infrared wavelengths (0.15 - 1 THz). This demonstrator is being used to investigate and validate important design features and data-processing methods for future instruments. Using electromagnetic modelling techniques several issues related to its operation at long baselines and wavelengths, such as diffraction, have been investigated. These are critical to the design of the concept instrument and the laboratory testbed.

We present the design, numerical simulations and experimental measurements of an asymmetric cross terahertz metamaterial absorber (MPA) on ultra-flexible polyimide film. The perfect metamaterial absorber composed of two structured metallic layers separated with a polyimide film with a total thickness of functional layers much smaller than the operational wavelength. Two distinct absorption peaks are found at resonance frequencies of 0.439THz and 0.759 THz with resonance amplitude of near unity, which are in good agreement with the simulation results. The sample is also measured by a THz-TDS imaging system to illustrate the absorption characterization. The scanning images show that the sample could act as a perfect absorber at specific resonance frequencies while a perfect reflector at off resonance frequencies. To illustrate the physical mechanism behind these spectral responses, the distribution of the power loss and surface current are also presented. The result shows that the incident wave is trapped and absorbed by the polyimide dielectric layer at different vicinities of the proposed asymmetric cross MPA for the two absorption peaks. Furthermore, the index sensing performance of the structure is also investigated, and the calculated sensitivity is 90GHz/RIU for f₁ mode and 154.7GHz/RIU for f₂ mode, indicating that the higher frequency resonance absorption peak has better potential applications in sensing and detection. The ultra-flexible, low cost, high intensity dual band terahertz absorbers may pave the way for designing various terahertz functional devices, such as ultrasensitive terahertz sensors, spatial light modulators and filters.

We have proposed a method by using a nonlinear optical technique to generate frequency-modulated (FM) signals in the terahertz (THz) band with much broader bandwidth. Periodically-poled lithium niobates (PPLNs) are excited by ultrashort pulses, and linearly frequency-chirped THz pulses are obtained by changing the periodicity of the PPLN gradually. The bandwidth achieved is approximately 1 THz at a center frequency of 1.5 THz. Using this wave in a FM continuous (CW) radar system is expected to result in a range resolution of ~150 μm. This FM-THz signal generation technique will thus be useful in or future civil safety applications requiring high-resolution ranging or imaging.

Driven by the requirements in synchrotron radiation applications, astronomical observation, and dense plasma diagnostics, the EUV, soft X-rays and X-rays multilayer optics have been tremendously developed. Based on the LAMP project for soft X-ray polarimetry, Co/C and Cr/C multilayers have been fabricated and characterized. Both Co/C and Cr/C multilayers reveal good optical performance working at 250 eV. Pd/Y multilayers have been successfully fabricated using reactive sputtering with nitrogen working at around 9.4 nm. EUV normal incidence Schwarzschild and soft X-ray grazing incidence KB microscopes were developed for ICF plasma diagnostics. This paper covers the outline of the multilayer optics and the current status in our lab.

Efficient modulation of electrical signals onto an optical carrier remains the main challenge in full implementation of microwave photonic links (MPLs) for applications such as antenna remoting and wireless access networks. Current MPLs utilize Mach-Zehnder Interferometers (MZI) with sinusoidal transfer function as electro-optic modulators causing nonlinear distortions in the link. Recently ring resonator modulators (RRM) consisting of a ring resonator coupled to a base waveguide attracted interest to enhance linearity, reduce the size and power consumption in MPLs. Fabrication of a RRM is more challenging than the MZI not only in fabrication process but also in designing and optimization steps. Although RRM can be analyzed theoretically for MPLs, physical structures need to be designed and optimized utilizing simulation techniques in both optical and microwave regimes with consideration of specific material properties. Designing and optimization steps are conducted utilizing full-wave simulation software package and RRM function analyzed in both passive and active forms and confirmed through theoretical analysis. It is shown that RRM can be completely designed and analyzed utilizing full-wave simulation techniques and as a result linearity effect of the modulator on MPLs can be studied and optimized. The material nonlinearity response can be determined computationally and included in modulator design and readily adaptable for analyzing other materials such as silicon or structures where theoretical analysis is not easily achieved.

For high-power THz wave generation by photomixing of two lightwaves, we proposed the synchronous power combiner which consists of eight-arrayed photomixers/antennas and the THz phase control system. We experimentally confirmed the effectiveness of the power combination by synchronizing the phases of the THz wave by the mechanical optical delay lines and also demonstrated the same functionality at the lightwave-circuit-based optical phase control system. We found that the directional gain is increasing with increasing the number of photomixers from two to three and it reached up to 4.5 dB.

We report on a novel fused collimator design as part of a transmitter optical sub-assembly (TOSA) used for agile microwave photonic links. The fused collimator consists of a PM fiber that is laser fused to a C type lens. The fusion joint provides a low loss interface between the two components and eliminates the need for separate components in the optical path. The design simplifies the number of components with the optical assembly leading to several advantages over traditional designs. In this paper we use the fiber coupling efficiency as a design metric and discuss the optmechanical tolerances and its effect on the overall design parameters.

Phased-array antenna (PAA) technology plays a significant role in modern day radar and communication networks. Truetime- delay (TTD) enabled beam steering networks provide several advantages over their electronic counterparts, including squint-free beam steering, low RF loss, immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI), and large bandwidth control of PAAs. Chip-scale and integrated TTD modules promise a miniaturized, light-weight system; however, the modules are still rigid and they require complex packaging solutions. Moreover, the total achievable time delay is still restricted by the wafer size. In this work, we propose a light-weight and large-area, true-time-delay beamforming network that can be fabricated on light-weight and flexible/rigid surfaces utilizing low-cost “printing” techniques. In order to prove the feasibility of the approach, a 2-bit thermo-optic polymer TTD network is developed using a combination of imprinting and ink-jet printing. RF beam steering of a 1×4 X-band PAA up to 60° is demonstrated. The development of such active components on large area, light-weight, and low-cost substrates promises significant improvement in size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements over the state-of-the-art.

A low loss and high sensitivity X-band RF sensor based on electro-optic (EO) polymer filled silicon slot photonic crystal waveguides (PCW) and bowtie antenna is proposed. By taking advantage of the slow light enhancementt in the PCW(>20X), large EO coefficient of the EO polymer(r₃₃>200pm/V), as well as significant electric field enhancement of bowtie antenna on silicon dioxide substrate(>10000X), we can realize a large in-device EO coefficient over 1000pm/V so as to realize a high performance RF wave sensor. In addition, on-chip Mach-Zender interferometer (MZI) layout working under push-pull configuration is adopted to further increase the sensitivity of the sensor. Furthermore, inverse taper couplers and slotted photonic crystal waveguides are carefully designed and discussed in this paper to reduce the insertion loss of the device so as to increase the device signal-to-noise ratio. The minimum detectable electromagnetic power density is pushed down to 2.05 mW/m², corresponding to a minimum sensing electric field of 0.61 V/m. This photonic RF sensor has several important advantages over conventional electronics RF sensors based on electrical scheme including high data throughput, compact in size, and great immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI).

High power photodiodes are needed for a range of applications. The high available power conversion efficiency makes these ideal for antenna remoting applications, including high power, low duty-cycle RF pulse generation. The compact footprint and fiber optic input allow densely packed RF aperture arrays with low cross-talk for phased high directionality emitters. Other applications include linear RF photonic links and other high dynamic range optical systems. Freedom Photonics has developed packaged modified uni-traveling carrier (MUTC) photodetectors for high-power applications. Both single and balanced photodetector pairs are mounted on a ceramic carrier, and packaged in a compact module optimized for high power operation. Representative results include greater than 100 mA photocurrent, >100m W generated RF power and >20 GHz bandwidth. In this paper, we evaluate the saturation and bandwidth of these single ended and balanced photodetectors for detector diameter in the 16 μm to 34 μm range. Packaged performance is compared to chip performance. Further new development towards the realization of <100GHz packaged photodetector modules with optimized high power performance is described. Finally, incorporation of these photodetector structures in novel photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for high optical power application areas is outlined.

In this paper, we proposed metasurfaces working at two THz wavelengths simultaneously (in a broadband manner for each wavelength). The performance of the proposed metasurfaces at both wavelengths could be manipulated individually. A unit cell of the metasurface is first designed. Based on the unit cell structure, two functional metasurface devices are realized, which can arbitrarily deflect the incident THz waves at the two design wavelengths. The simulation results of these two proposed designs agree well with the theoretical predictions.

A method of optical signal conversions at high data rates from wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) signals to time division multiplexing (TDM) signals is demonstrated and studied experimentally using the cross-absorption effect of electro-absorption modulator (EAM). A multi-wavelength light source is designed and built up as a set of WDM carriers which are gated as the WDM pulse signals to be converted. The spectrum of the WDM signals covers more than 40 nm so that is proved that the wavelengths in the whole C+L band can be converted to a single wavelength at which the TDM signal is formed at the output of the system. The pulse width of the WDM signals which is input into the EAM device is about 2.586 ns. And the signal to noise ratio after conversion is about 7dB. It shows that EAM has strong noise immunity in the all-optical wavelength conversion experiment. And it is observed that the conversion of signals at the short wavelength shows higher conversion efficiency than the long-wavelength signals in the EAM device to a probe wavelength at the center of C band.

This paper presents a design and fabrication of 1 x 4 one-sided directional slot array antenna with director metal layer on indium phosphide (InP) substrate for 300 GHz wireless link. The floating metal and polyimide dielectric layer are stacked on InP. Antenna is designed on the top metal layer. By optimizing the length of the bottom floating metal layer, one-sided directional radiation can be realized. The branched coplanar wave guide (CPW) transmission line is connected to each antenna element with the same electrical length. The size of the 1 x 4 array antenna is 2,550 µm x 1,217 µm x 18 µm. In order to enhance the gain of forward direction, director metal layer is placed over 83 µm from top metal layer. Simulated realized gain in peak direction of our antenna is 9.23 dBi. The measured center frequency is almost the same as that of the simulation results.