Terahertz radiation was generated with several designs of photoconductive antennas (three dipoles, a bow tie, and a coplanar strip line) fabricated on low-temperature-grown (LT) GaAs and semi-insulating (SI) GaAs, and the emission properties of the photoconductive antennas were compared with each other. The radiation spectrum of each antenna was characterized with the photoconductive sampling technique. The total radiation power was also measured by a bolometer for comparison of the relative radiation power. The radiation spectra of the LT-GaAs-based and SI-GaAs-based photoconductive antennas of the same design showed no significant difference. The pump-power dependencies of the radiation power showed saturation for higher pump intensities, which was more serious in SI-GaAs-based antennas than in LT-GaAs-based antennas. We attributed the origin of the saturation to the field screening of the photocarriers.

Terahertz radiation from InSb and InAS, which are typical narrow band-gap semiconductors, was investigated using time-resolved THz emission measurements. When we compared between the polarity of the THz waveforms of these narrow band-gap semiconductors with that of InP, which is a wide bandgap semiconductor, we concluded that the ultrafast buildup of the photo-Dember field is the main mechanism for the emission of THz radiation in both InAs and InSb. The emission efficiency of InSb is approximately one-hundredth of that of InAs, although the electron mobility in InSb is higher than in InAs. Wavelength-dependent measurements implied that the anomalously low THz emission efficiency of InSb might be due to a reduction in transient mobility resulting from the scattering of electrons into the low-mobility L valley.

Interference of impulsively excited coherent phonons in semimetals has been studied by using a double-pulse pump–probe technique. Enhancement of the oscillation amplitude of an A1g mode is observed when the separation time of the double-pulse is matched to the period of the phonon oscillation, and a cancellation is observed when the separation time is adjusted to half the period of the phonon oscillation. The amplitude after the second pulse shows a sinusoidal dependence as a function of the separation time, and this dependence is explained in terms of a superposition of two coherent phonon oscillations. In addition, not only the A1g mode but also an Eg mode have been observed by electro-optic sampling.

No abstract

We have measured the terahertz (THz) complex dielectric spectra of imidazolium ionic liquids by THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in the frequency range from 5 (0.15 THz) to 140 cm(-1) (4.2 THz). The ionic liquids investigated are 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium (EMIm+)/trifluoromethanesulfonate (TfO-), EMIm+/tetrafluoroborate (BF(4)-), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (BMIm+)/TfO-, and BMIm+/BF(4)-. The dielectric values of the ionic liquids in the THz region are similar to those of short-chain alcohols. The THz dielectric values are related to subpicosecond-to-picosecond dynamics. The same trend has been observed in the empirical polarity ET(30) although it is related to the static characteristics of polarity and hydrogen bonding ability. A difference between the two types of liquids is observed in the THz dielectric spectral shapes: the ionic liquids show structured lineshapes but short-chain alcohols show much less structured ones. The structured lineshapes of the ionic liquids reflect the low-frequency motions of interion and/or intramolecular vibrations. When the ionic liquids composed of the different imidazolium cations contain the same anions as counterions, their density-normalized THz dielectric spectra above 20 cm(-1) bear strong resemblance to each other in shape and magnitude. It shows clearly that the THz spectra do not originate from the intramolecular vibrations of the imodazolium cations. All of the intramolecular vibrations of the anions are located above 140 cm(-1) except the CF3-SO3 torsion of TfO-, the band of which alone cannot explain the broad THz dielectric spectra of the ionic liquids. Therefore, we conclude that the interion vibrations rather than the intramolecular vibrations dominantly contribute to the THz dielectric spectra. The results strongly indicate that even in the liquid phase the ionic liquids have local structures similar to their solid-phase structures.

We demonstrate the generation of continuous-wave terahertz radiation at frequencies up to 3.5 THz by photomixing in LT-GaAs photoconductors with printed dipole antennas. The expected resonance peak was clearly observed in the radiation spectrum of a 50 μm dipole antenna, and the radiation property was discussed in terms of the antenna impedance. The spectral bandwidth was greater than the electrical bandwidth of the photoconductor determined by the carrier lifetime of the material. The quality of the resonance, however, was not as high as expected because of the imperfect geometry and ohmic loss of the antenna.

No abstract

We perform a comprehensive comparison between terahertz ͑THz͒ time-domain spectroscopy and conventional far-infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, including radiation source, detector, signal to noise ratio, bandwidth, availability, applications, and their own uniqueness. In terms of signal to noise ratio, THz time-domain spectroscopy is advantageous at low frequencies under 3 THz, while Fourier transform spectroscopy works better at frequencies above 5 THz. In addition, we provide a detailed discussion of the unique features of THz time-domain spectroscopy and its application to dynamic and time-resolved processes.