Active terahertz metamaterial devices

The development of artificially structured electromagnetic materials, termed metamaterials, has led to the realization of phenomena that cannot be obtained with natural materials. This is especially important for the technologically relevant terahertz (1 THz = 10(12) Hz) frequency regime; many materials inherently do not respond to THz radiation, and the tools that are necessary to construct devices operating within this range-sources, lenses, switches, modulators and detectors-largely do not exist. Considerable efforts are underway to fill this 'THz gap' in view of the useful potential applications of THz radiation. Moderate progress has been made in THz generation and detection; THz quantum cascade lasers are a recent example. However, techniques to control and manipulate THz waves are lagging behind. Here we demonstrate an active metamaterial device capable of efficient real-time control and manipulation of THz radiation. The device consists of an array of gold electric resonator elements (the metamaterial) fabricated on a semiconductor substrate. The metamaterial array and substrate together effectively form a Schottky diode, which enables modulation of THz transmission by 50 per cent, an order of magnitude improvement over existing devices.     

砷化镓太赫兹光导天线的制备及性能研究

用半绝缘砷化镓(SI-GaAs)材料制备了太赫兹(THz)光导天线和天线阵列,其电极间隙分别为50μm、100μm、150μm。用THz时域光谱系统(THz-Time domain system)测试和比较了三种不同电极间隙天线的THz辐射性能,研究了电极间隙的大小对光导天线辐射THz性能影响。实验表明相同衬底材料、几何结构和制作工艺的天线,辐射出的THz电磁波的频谱基本相同,与电极间隙无关;光导天线THz电磁波远场辐射强度与外加偏置电场和天线的有效辐射面积成正比。光导天线阵列在相同的偏置电场以及相同激光光源的情况下比常规光导天线有更强的辐射THz波的能力。     

High-power terahertz radiation from relativistic electrons

Terahertz (THz) radiation, which lies in the far-infrared region, is at the interface of electronics and photonics. Narrow-band THz radiation can be produced by free-electron lasers and fast diodes. Broadband THz radiation can be produced by thermal sources and, more recently, by table-top laser-driven sources and by short electron bunches in accelerators, but so far only with low power. Here we report calculations and measurements that confirm the production of high-power broadband THz radiation from subpicosecond electron bunches in an accelerator. The average power is nearly 20 watts, several orders of magnitude higher than any existing source, which could enable various new applications. In particular, many materials have distinct absorptive and dispersive properties in this spectral range, so that THz imaging could reveal interesting features. For example, it would be possible to image the distribution of specific proteins or water in tissue, or buried metal layers in semiconductors; the present source would allow full-field, real-time capture of such images. High peak and average power THz sources are also critical in driving new nonlinear phenomena and for pump-probe studies of dynamical properties of materials.     

光学整流产生和电光取样探测THz辐射的数值模拟

从麦克斯韦方程出发,得到光学整流方法产生THz辐射的电场的表达式以及自由空间电光取样系统探测到的电光信号与入射的THz辐射电场之间的理论关系式,并选取GaAs为产生晶体,ZnTe为探测晶体,通过数值模拟讨论激光脉冲宽度、产生晶体和探测晶体厚度这三个主要的实验因素对THz光谱的影响。     

温度对LiNbO3晶体THz辐射产生效率的影响

利用超短激光脉冲泵浦电光晶体LiNbO₃产生脉冲THz辐射, 并用非线性光学差频原理解释了THz的产生机制. 改变泵浦激光能量, 实验结果表明, THz脉冲波形的最大振幅与泵浦激光能量为平方关系, 随泵浦能量的增大, 晶体温度逐渐升高, 增加了对所产生THz辐射的吸收, 并逐渐偏离平方关系. 通过降低晶体温度, 减小TO声子-极化子因非谐振衰减为两个声学声子而引起的THz吸收, 提高了THz的产生效率.      

半绝缘GaAs光电导天线辐射THz电磁波展宽特性分析

介绍了自洽式多粒子蒙特卡罗方法模拟半绝缘GaAs光电导天线辐射THz电磁时域波形。模型中采用光能、脉宽可调飞秒激光器作为触发光源,模拟的THz电磁波形与实验基本吻合。通过载流子在光电导体内的动态输运特性,分析了辐射THz电磁波场比触发光脉冲展宽的物理机制在于:光生载流子在外电场作用下,从初始状态到速度达到稳态要经历一个动量和能量弛豫过程,而正是由于载流子动量和能量的弛豫过程导致光电导天线辐射的太赫兹波展宽。高光能、低偏置电场下,空间电荷电场是造成光电导天线辐射的THz波呈现双极性的主要原因。     

Generating 0.42 THz radiation from a second harmonic gyrotron

Gyrotrons are high powered coherent electromagnetic radiation sources, and are considered to be available powerful sources that have the potential to bridge the so-called terahertz gap. In the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, a second harmonic gyrotron has been designed, manufactured, and tested. The gyrotron generated radiation at a 0.423 THz frequency in 5μs pulses with an 8.1 Tesla magnetic field, with a power per pulse of about 4.4 kW. To date this is the highest frequency recorded for vacuum electronic devices in China. The gyrotron design, operation and measurements are presented.     

Experimental observation of electron-hole recollisions

An intense laser field can remove an electron from an atom or molecule and pull the electron into a large-amplitude oscillation in which it repeatedly collides with the charged core it left behind. Such recollisions result in the emission of very energetic photons by means of high-order-harmonic generation, which has been observed in atomic and molecular gases as well as in a bulk crystal. An exciton is an atom-like excitation of a solid in which an electron that is excited from the valence band is bound by the Coulomb interaction to the hole it left behind. It has been predicted that recollisions between electrons and holes in excitons will result in a new phenomenon: high-order-sideband generation. In this process, excitons are created by a weak near-infrared laser of frequency f(NIR). An intense laser field at a much lower frequency, f(THz), then removes the electron from the exciton and causes it to recollide with the resulting hole. New emission is predicted to occur as sidebands of frequency f(NIR)?+?2nf(THz), where n is an integer that can be much greater than one. Here we report the observation of high-order-sideband generation in semiconductor quantum wells. Sidebands are observed up to eighteenth order (+18f(THz), or n = 9). The intensity of the high-order sidebands decays only weakly with increasing sideband order, confirming the non-perturbative nature of the effect. Sidebands are strongest for linearly polarized terahertz radiation and vanish when the terahertz radiation is circularly polarized. Beyond their fundamental scientific significance, our results suggest a new mechanism for the ultrafast modulation of light, which has potential applications in terabit-rate optical communications.     

堆叠多层石墨烯的太赫兹电导研究

单层石墨烯具有可调的太赫兹电导,有望应用于制作新型太赫兹器件,然而这种调谐的变化范围有限,通过多层石墨烯的堆叠可以拓展石墨烯太赫兹器件的性能上限。本文通过太赫兹时域光谱研究了石英衬底上不同层数堆叠的石墨烯的太赫兹透过特性,并使用Drude模型以及菲涅尔定律对实验结果进行了理论模拟。实验数据与理论结果的匹配表明:随机堆叠的多层石墨烯在太赫兹波段可以看作没有电子耦合的多个单层石墨烯,其太赫兹电导具有更宽的调谐范围,同时化学掺杂可以进一步提高材料的载流子浓度,从而获得更高的太赫兹电导。     

CO_2激光器泵浦CH_3OH产生THz激光的理论分析

以激光速率方程理论为基础出发点,搭建出三能级系统模型,从而对光泵的CH3OH分子产生THz激光机理和动力学过程做了理论分析。结合实验参量,使用CO2激光器输出的9P(36)支线泵浦CH3OH气体分子产生118.8μm的THz激光,并在工作气压为10 Pa,温度为常温(20℃)下,分析了三能级粒子数密度变化情况及输出功率波形特征,以及改变缓冲气压、腔内温度和输出镜反射率的情况下,对激光输出功率的影响。结果表明,理论计算结果能较好地反映光泵产生THz激光的过程。     

Metal wires for terahertz wave guiding

Sources and systems for far-infrared or terahertz (1 THz = 10(12) Hz) radiation have received extensive attention in recent years, with applications in sensing, imaging and spectroscopy. Terahertz radiation bridges the gap between the microwave and optical regimes, and offers significant scientific and technological potential in many fields. However, waveguiding in this intermediate spectral region still remains a challenge. Neither conventional metal waveguides for microwave radiation, nor dielectric fibres for visible and near-infrared radiation can be used to guide terahertz waves over a long distance, owing to the high loss from the finite conductivity of metals or the high absorption coefficient of dielectric materials in this spectral range. Furthermore, the extensive use of broadband pulses in the terahertz regime imposes an additional constraint of low dispersion, which is necessary for compatibility with spectroscopic applications. Here we show how a simple waveguide, namely a bare metal wire, can be used to transport terahertz pulses with virtually no dispersion, low attenuation, and with remarkable structural simplicity. As an example of this new waveguiding structure, we demonstrate an endoscope for terahertz pulses.     

THz time-domain spectroscopy of amino acids

The optical characteristics of four kinds of amino acids （tyrosine, arginine, histidine and glutamine） filled with nitrogen at room temperature were studied by THz time-domain spectroscopy （THz-TDS）. Well-resolved absorption and refractive spectrums between 0.I and 2.8 THz were obtained based on the physical model for extracting the optical parameters of materials in THz range. The results not only fill up the spectra gap of amino acids in far-infrared range, supply data for amino acid molecular identification and conformation analysis, but also demonstrate significantly potential to promote the research and application of biological materials in bio-chemical and medical fields by THz-TDS.     

太赫兹波通信系统中调制技术的研究

分析了近年来可用于太赫兹通信的调制技术,从内调制、外调制以及电混频、光调制方式等角度研究了各种调制方式的发展情况、技术特点以及研究前景.研究发现,受技术发展水平的限制,目前,采用太赫兹辐射源直接调制与外加调制器的调制方式普遍存在带宽不足的缺点.而太赫兹波段作为载波而言,10Gbps以上的调制速率才真正能够发挥太赫兹通信的宽带优势,具有实际应用价值和研究意义.采用电混频与光调制方式的太赫兹通信技术由于采用了微波通信与光通信的技术优势,目前在调制速率方面远远超过了前两种调制方式.     

Research of the terahertz dual-band notch filter based on FSS structures

In this paper, a dual-band notch filter for two-layer frequency selective surface （FSS） at terahertz （THz） frequency with high fil- tering performance has been realized on high-resistivity silicon substrates. With periodic metallic resonators patterned on the sili- con wafer, the designed filter can provide two tunable resonant frequencies for terahertz application. The transmission response was improved by introducing an extra surrounding pattern around the T-shaped structure, and the location of transmission drop was tuned independently with geometric parameters. Simulated by finite-integral time-domain method, the filter is designed to operate between 0.2 and 0.6 THz with dual-band band-stop performance, a salient feature of this design is making the low sensi- tivity of its frequency response to the incident angles, which allows to place the filter close to the radiation source with spherical wave fronts. The proposed structures were fabricated using photolithography and tested by THz time-domain spectroscopy system Experimental results show that the transmission response has more than 12 and 32 dB rejections near 285 and 460 GHz respectively, which is in good agreement with the simulation result.     

Phase-resolved measurements of stimulated emission in a laser

Lasers are usually described by their output frequency and intensity. However, laser operation is an inherently nonlinear process. Knowledge about the dynamic behaviour of lasers is thus of great importance for detailed understanding of laser operation and for improvement in performance for applications. Of particular interest is the time domain within the coherence time of the optical transition. This time is determined by the oscillation period of the laser radiation and thus is very short. Rigorous quantum mechanical models predict interesting effects like quantum beats, lasing without inversion, and photon echo processes. As these models are based on quantum coherence and interference, knowledge of the phase within the optical cycle is of particular interest. Laser radiation has so far been measured using intensity detectors, which are sensitive to the square of the electric field. Therefore information about the sign and phase of the laser radiation is lost. Here we use an electro-optic detection scheme to measure the amplitude and phase of stimulated radiation, and correlate this radiation directly with an input probing pulse. We have applied this technique to semiconductor quantum cascade lasers, which are coherent sources operating at frequencies between the optical (>100 THz) and electronic (<0.5 THz) ranges. In addition to the phase information, we can also determine the spectral gain, the bias dependence of this gain, and obtain an insight into the evolution of the laser field.     

THz辐射在气体检测中的应用初探

鉴于大气污染问题的日趋严重,人们在寻找不同的技术方法,用于大气化学研究和污染气体检测,从而对空气质量进行监督和对已污染大气进行整治。本文概述了光谱技术在气体检测中的应用,重点介绍了THz辐射在气体检测中的研究进展。     

Terahertz semiconductor-heterostructure laser

Semiconductor devices have become indispensable for generating electromagnetic radiation in everyday applications. Visible and infrared diode lasers are at the core of information technology, and at the other end of the spectrum, microwave and radio-frequency emitters enable wireless communications. But the terahertz region (1-10 THz; 1 THz = 10(12) Hz) between these ranges has remained largely underdeveloped, despite the identification of various possible applications--for example, chemical detection, astronomy and medical imaging. Progress in this area has been hampered by the lack of compact, low-consumption, solid-state terahertz sources. Here we report a monolithic terahertz injection laser that is based on interminiband transitions in the conduction band of a semiconductor (GaAs/AlGaAs) heterostructure. The prototype demonstrated emits a single mode at 4.4 THz, and already shows high output powers of more than 2 mW with low threshold current densities of about a few hundred A cm(-2) up to 50 K. These results are very promising for extending the present laser concept to continuous-wave and high-temperature operation, which would lead to implementation in practical photonic systems.     

Design and fabrication of superconducting HEB mixer

This paper describes the design and fabrication of superconducting hot electron bolometer （HEB） mixer based on ultra-thin superconducting NbN films. The high quality films were epitaxially grown on high resistance Si substrates. The device was fabricated by magnetron sputtering, electron beam lithography （EBL）, reactive ion etching （RIE）, lithography, and so on. The device＇s resistance-temperature （R-T） curves and current-voltage （I-V） curves were studied. The results of THz response of the device are presented. Y-factor technique was used to measure the device＇s noise temperature. When the device was irradiated with a laser radiation of 2.5 THz, the obtained lowest noise temperature of the device was 2213 K.     

太赫兹科学技术及其应用

近20年来,随着低尺度半导体技术、超快激光技术以及超快光电子技术的飞速发展,太赫兹科学技术表现出了极大的应用潜力.作为一种新型的相干光源,太赫兹辐射在物理化学、信息和生物学等基础研究领域,以及材料、国防、医学等技术领域具有重大的科学价值和广泛的应用前景.文章全面总结了目前太赫兹技术在基础研究领域和民用技术研究领域的应用,以及太赫兹技术在保密通信、反隐身雷达、化学和生物制剂的探测等领域的重要应用前景.     

An investigation on terahertz response in electro-optic crystals excited at 1.03 μm wavelength

We theoretically investigate terahertz （THz） emission and detection from （ll0）-oriented electro-optic （EO） crystals adapted for Yb-doped femtosecond pulse laser. According to the principles of phase-matching condition, the dispersion relation between optical velocity and THz pulse, THz absorption spectra, and coherence lengths of CdTe, GaP, and GaAs crystals below the phonon resonant frequency are calculated correspondingly. The optical rectification and EO sampling process of above crystals with the same thickness of 0.1 mm are simulated. As a consequence, we found that the optimal emission frequency of CdTe is at 2.65 THz, however, it reaches 6.56 THz of GaAs and 4.77 THz of GaP. With the help of frequency response function, the calculated cut-off frequency of CdTe is only 3.45 THz, while GaAs and GaP achieve 7.15 and 6.37 THz correspondingly. Finally, the EO sampling sensitivity of GaAs is higher than CdTe and GaP when the crystal＇s thickness exceeds 1.58 mm. The strong THz absorption of CdTe saturates distinctly the EO sampling sensitivity with its thickness increasing.