Generation and Detection of Terahertz Electrical Waveforms

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents theoretical and experimental work on development of Tetrahertz (THz) generation and detection schemes. Here, the PC THz generation processes are applied to the formation of transmission line coupled THz electrical waveforms. After a brief explanation of the experimental setup employed, the concept of PC self-switching is introduced through theoretical and experimental work on coplanar gallium arsenide (GaAs) PC self-switching. Here, it is shown that ultrashort THz electrical pulses can be formed on transmission lines through a time delayed multi switching process. The coplanar PC switch was presented to explain the operation of the device. By employing sufficiently short electrode spacings, it was found that the operation of the device could be extended into the THz frequency domain.