Easy-to-use scalable antennas for coherent detection of THz radiation


Easy-to-use scalable antennas for coherent detection of THz radiation

Winnerl, S.; Nitsche, S.; Peter, F.; Drachenko, O.; Schneider, H.; Helm, M.; Köhler, K.

We present a terahertz transceiver consisting of a photoconductive emitter and detection antenna with similar electrode geometry. Here, we focus on the detection antenna. Compared to electro-optic sampling, photoconductive antennas can be integrated more easily into compact THz setups, e.g. by using substrate lenses and by coupling to optical fibers. However, since the antenna gap of typical THz detection antennas is usually only a few µm wide, the alignment of photoconductive antennas is not simple and the possibility to move the antenna is limited. The transceiver consists of a scalable THz emitter based on an interdigitated electrode structure [1] and a detection antenna with similar electrode geometry. While the THz emitter is fabricated on SI-GaAs substrate, various materials with short carrier lifetimes are used for the detection antenna. Detection antennas based on LT-GaAs and GaAs implanted with As+ (dual-energy implants, 1 MeV and 2.4 MeV, doses in the range from 1013 cm-2 to 1016 cm-2) and N+ (dual-energy implants, 0.4 MeV and 0.9 MeV, doses in the range from 1012 cm-2 to 1014 cm-2) are compared. The strongest detected signals are found for As+ implantations with a dose in the 1014 cm-2 range. In Fig. 1 THz transients detected with an LT-GaAs antenna are shown together with the corresponding power spectra. The spectra extend up to 4 THz. The dependence of the detected signal on the gating laser power and the spot size of the gating beam were studied. For 70 mW power of the gating beam, a spot size in the range from 200 to 700 µm yields the strongest signals. The lower limit is determined by a nonlinear dependence of the signal on the excitation density. The upper limit for the spot size is simply given by the size of the antenna, which was 1 mm x 1 mm. Furthermore the detector was used to study the spatial profile of the THz beam. In this experiment, the detector was placed 27 mm behind the emitter and scanned across the THz beam. The beam had Gaussian shape with a full width at half maximum of 8 mm and 18 mm for frequency components of 0.7 THz and 0.2 THz, respectively. This experiment demonstrates the potential of the detector to map out unfocussed THz fields with a good signal-to-noise ratio. In conclusion, the scalable antennas constitute an efficient, easy-to-use, symmetric emitter-detector pair.
[1] A. Dreyhaupt, S. Winnerl, T. Dekorsy, and M. Helm, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 121114 (2005).

  • Lecture (Conference)
    13th International Conference on Narrow Gap Semiconductors, 08.-12.07.2007, Guildford, UK
  • Springer Proceedings in Physics 119(2008), 167-169

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-10220
Publ.-Id: 10220