Abstract
We demonstrate, by generating a THz electric field directly within the guiding structure, an active two-wire waveguide operating in the terahertz (THz) range of wavelengths. We compare the energy throughput of the active configuration with that of a radiatively coupled semi-large photoconductive antenna, in which the radiation is generated outside the waveguide, reporting a 60 times higher energy throughput for the same illumination power and applied voltage. This novel, active waveguide design allows to have efficient coupling of the THz radiation in a dispersion-less waveguide without the need of involved radiative coupling geometries.
Highlights
The development of waveguides with low dispersion propagation of broadband terahertz (THz) pulses is essential to realize interconnects for future THz communication networks, enhanced THz-time domain spectroscopy (TDS), and to develop new sensing technologies
By generating a THz electric field directly within the guiding structure, an active two-wire waveguide operating in the terahertz (THz) range of wavelengths
We compare the energy throughput of the active configuration with that of a radiatively coupled semi-large photoconductive antenna, in which the radiation is generated outside the waveguide, reporting a 60 times higher energy throughput for the same illumination power and applied voltage
Summary
The development of waveguides with low dispersion propagation of broadband terahertz (THz) pulses is essential to realize interconnects for future THz communication networks, enhanced THz-time domain spectroscopy (TDS), and to develop new sensing technologies. One issue that still needs to be addressed is how to efficiently couple THz pulses into the two-wire guiding structure Both the TEM mode supported by a two-wire waveguide and the THz radiation generated by a PC antenna are linearly polarized. In this work we address this issue by generating the THz radiation directly inside the waveguide (i.e. active wave-guiding) This is achieved by shining a short laser pulse on a thin piece of GaAs inserted between the wires under a given voltage, following the principle at the basis of a (semi-) large area photoconductive antenna [17,18,19,20]. No optimization of the radiative coupling between the semi-large PC antenna and the waveguide has been attempted
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