Two Terahertz Research Articles

Volatile Liquid Detection by Terahertz Technologies

The prospect of being able to move through security without the inconvenience of separating liquids from bags is an exciting one for passengers, and there are important operational benefits for airports as well. Here, two terahertz (THz) systems, 100 GHz sub-THz line scanner and attenuation total reflection-based THz time domain spectroscopy (TDS), have been used to demonstrate the capability of identifying different liquid samples. Liquid samples’ THz complex permittivities are measured and their differences have contributed to the variation of 100 GHz 2D images of volatile liquids with different volumes inside of cannister bottles. The acquired attenuation images at 100 GHz can easily be used to distinguish highly absorbed liquids (Water, Ethanol, Fuel Treatment Chemicals) and low loss liquids (Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene and Universal Bottle Cleaner). The results give a promising feasibility for mm-wave imager and THz spectroscopy to efficiently identify different volatile liquids.

Broadband terahertz spectroscopy of paper and banknotes

Paper and paper products banknotes play an important role in daily life. Two terahertz (THz) time-domain spectrometers (TDS) with combined spectral coverage from 0.5 to 10 THz were used to characterize the optical properties of several types of paper and banknotes. We found that the paper and banknotes show remarkable fingerprints in the terahertz regime, which are highly related to the vibrational modes of the main component of paper and banknotes — cellulose. Meanwhile, THz transmission imaging measurements had been performed and shown the capability of imaging the key anti-counterfeit labels of banknotes such as watermarks, security threads and optically variable inks. The presented study here indicates that the THz spectroscopy together with the imaging method could provide a visible, contactless and nondestructive alternative to delineating paper and paper product banknotes.

Simultaneous generation of two THz waves with bulk LiNbO3 and four THz waves with PPLN by coupled optical parametric generation

We present a theoretical research concerning simultaneous generation of two terahertz (THz) waves with bulk LiNbO3 and four THz waves with periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) by coupled optical parametric generation (COPG). First, we investigate collinear phase matching of COPG generating two orthogonally polarized THz waves with two types of phase matching of o = e + e and o = e + o with bulk LiNbO3. The two orthogonally polarized THz waves are generated from stimulated polariton scattering (SPS) with A1 and E symmetric transverse optical (TO) modes in bulk LiNbO3, respectively. Then, we find that perturbations of phase mismatch for o = e + e and o = e + o can be compensated by a same grating vector of PPLN. As a result, four THz waves are simultaneously generated with a PPLN crystal and a pump laser. We calculate third-order nonlinear optical coefficients of o = e + o generating THz waves from E symmetric TO modes. The intensities of four THz waves are calculated by solving coupled wave equations. The calculation results demonstrate that the COPG generating four THz waves have high photon conversion efficiencies.

Simultaneous Realization of Anomalous Reflection and Transmission at Two Frequencies using Bi-functional Metasurfaces

The capability to manipulating electromagnetic (EM) waves at the sub-wavelength scale has been enabled by metamaterials and their two-dimensional counterparts, metasurfaces. Especially, integrating two or more diverse functionalities into a single metasurface-based device is of great significance to meet the stringent requirements imposed by today’s high frequency components and systems. Here, we present a dual-band bi-functional metasurface structure that could simultaneously achieve anomalous reflection and transmission at two terahertz (THz) frequencies, respectively, under linearly-polarized incident waves. To demonstrate the property of the proposed metasurface, a number of dual-band bi-functional metasurface-based components that could tailor the reflected and transmitted waves simultaneously are designed and verified numerically. Moreover, it is shown that both the amplitude and phase responses of the reflected and transmitted waves at two operating frequency bands (wavelengths) can be manipulated using the proposed metasurface, providing a new and convenient way to construct multi-functional metasurfaces and corresponding electromagnetic devices.

Terahertz Polarization Splitters Based on Total and Partial Coupling in Dual Slotted Core Polymer Fiber: Comparison and Analysis

Two terahertz (THz) polarization splitters based on dual slotted core polymer fiber are proposed and numerically investigated. The splitter structures are based on dual cores composed of subwavelength-scale air slots that are independently suspended within the fiber, which not only allows for single-mode propagation for the two orthogonal polarization modes with low absorption losses but enables them to couple with each other as well. Polarization splitters based on both symmetric and asymmetric dual slotted core structures, respectively, based on total and partial coupling are proposed and analyzed. The transmission modes, splitting lengths, and pertinent performance parameters of the two polarization splitters are investigated and numerically analyzed at a center-frequency of 1.0 THz. Comparisons of the two splitters with similar structural parameters are also carried out, which shows a comparably short splitting length of ∼1 cm and an ultra-low transmission loss of 0.4 dB with the asymmetric structure having a broader bandwidth and better extinction ratios.

Broadband terahertz conductivity and optical transmission of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) nanomaterials

Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) nanorods (NRs) and nanowhiskers (NWhs) were fabricated by an electron-beam glancing-angle deposition (GLAD) system. These nanomaterials are of interests as transparent conducting electrodes in various devices. Two terahertz (THz) time-domain spectrometers (TDS) with combined spectral coverage from 0.15 to 9.00 THz were used. These allow accurate determination of the optical and electrical properties of such ITO nanomaterials in the frequency range from 0.20 to 4.00 THz. Together with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) measurements, we found that the THz and far-infrared transmittance of these nanomaterials can be as high as 70% up to 15 THz, as opposed to about 9% for sputtered ITO thin films. The complex conductivities of ITO NRs, NWhs as well films are well fitted by the Drude-Smith model. Taking into account that the volume filling factors of both type of nanomaterials are nearly same, mobilities, and DC conductivities of ITO NWhs are higher than those of NRs due to less severe carrier localization effects in the former. On the other hand, mobilities of sputtered ITO thin films are poorer than ITO nanomaterials because of larger concentration of dopant ions in films, which causes stronger carrier scattering. We note further that consideration of the extreme values of Re{σ} and Im{σ} as well the inflection points, which are functions of the carrier scattering time (τ) and the expectation value of cosine of the scattering angle (γ), provide additional criteria for accessing the accuracy of the extraction of electrical parameters of non-Drude-like materials using THz-TDS. Our studies so far indicate ITO NWhs with heights of ~1000 nm show outstanding transmittance and good electrical characteristics for applications such as transparent conducting electrodes of THz Devices.

Terahertz filters based on frequency selective surfaces for high-speed terahertz switch

We design and fabricate two terahertz (THz) filters based on frequency selective surfaces' structures (FSSs) on single crystal sapphire substrate, which show high and low transmissivities to THz electromagnetic waves, respectively. The difference of THz transmissivity between two filters reaches up to 72% at the resonance frequency of 1.35 THz. The THz filtering effect is due to the resonant coupling between THz wave and periodic metallic elements and the filter operating frequency can be tuned systematically by the geometry of FSSs. The good agreement between experiments and finite difference time domain simulation indicates that a high-speed THz switch could be realized for THz active devices based on the FSSs.

太赫兹金属线波导耦合模理论研究

A coupled-mode theory for treating the coupling of two terahertz (THz) wire waveguides was studied using the coupled-mode assumption.Both coupling equations and coupling coefficients were obtained by using approximations equivalent with those in coupled-mode theory of optical waveguides.Furthermore,the solutions and coupling characteristics of coupled-mode equations for two same wire waveguides were obtained.The present theory is useful for treating problems involving energy exchange between the wire waveguides.

Spectral behavior of a terahertz quantum-cascade laser

In this paper, the spectral behavior of two terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) operating both pulsed and cw is characterized using a heterodyne technique. Both lasers emitting around 2.5 THz are combined onto a whisker contact Schottky diode mixer mounted in a corner cube reflector. The resulting difference frequency beatnote is recorded in both the time and frequency domain. From the frequency domain data, we measure the effective laser linewidth and the tuning rates as a function of both temperature and injection current and show that the current tuning behavior cannot be explained by temperature tuning mechanisms alone. From the time domain data, we characterize the intrapulse frequency tuning behavior, which limits the effective linewidth to approximately 5 MHz.