Limit of Spectral Resolution in Terahertz Time-DomainSpectroscopy

Abstract

The pulsed nature of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) setsa fundamental limit on its spectral resolution. The spectral resolutionof THz-TDS can be improved by increasing the duration of the temporalmeasurement, but is limited by the dynamic range of the system in thetime domain. This paper presents calculations and experimental resultsrelating the temporal dynamic range of a THz-TDS system to its spectralresolution. We discuss three typical terahertz sources in terms oftheir dynamic range and hence achievable spectral resolution.