Imaging of broadband terahertz beams using an array of antenna-coupled microbolometers operating at room temperature

Abstract

We present results of 2D real-time imaging of terahertz (THz) beam generated by a photoconductive antenna driven by a femtosecond oscillator. The detector, operating at room temperature, is a 320 x 240 array of antenna-coupled microbolometers with integrated CMOS read-out electronics delivering 25 images per second. High quality images of broadband THz beams covering the 0.1-2 THz range are recorded while maintaining a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 for detected THz power as low as 25 nW. The compactness of the easy-to-use uncooled camera makes it very useful for the alignment of systems such as THz time-domain spectrometers and for the characterization of emitters, optics and other components.

Review of Terahertz Tomography Techniques

“…Jointly a more robust and less expensive version of a terahertz imaging system will open new applications. Possible future improvements are related to semiconductor or optical laser sources and detector (Quantum Cascade laser and all fiber TDS experiment, and THz camera [202] for example). The terahertz science and especially spectro-terahertz imaging will probably be an emerging discipline and an efficient tool for a lot of industrial applications.…”

Classical Holography in the Terahertz Range: Recording and Reconstruction Techniques

“…For this reason, standard MBAs are sensitive to polarization of incident radiation. Recently [42], a novel modification of MBA with polarization-independent antenna-type sensitive elements was developed. It is worth noting that the MBA element size is less than the wavelength in the THz region.…”

Passive imaging of concealed objects in terahertz and long-wavelength infrared

“…Terahertz radiation can penetrate fabrics as well as other materials [13][14][15] and because this radiation does not ionize matter it is not harmful to people. However, practical high-resolution imaging in the terahertz band is difficult because terahertz imagers offer low spatial resolution and image quality [16,17].…”