Waveguide-Based Emitters and Coherent Detectors of Broadband THz Pulses for a Compact THz Spectrometer

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Recent developments in the use of nonlinear optical processes for generation and detection of broadband THz pulses have created significant interest in the use of THz spectroscopy for a variety of civilian and military applications. The award from the Approaches to Combat Terrorism program (ACT) will be used to design, fabricate, and characterize novel waveguide-based emitters and detectors that allow for broadband operation over extended interaction lengths. This extended interaction is expected to allow for small form factor, low power ultrafast fiber lasers to replace current tabletop systems. The goal of the proposed research is to explore the use these waveguide devices to build a compact, portable, and robust THz time-domain spectroscopy system. The proposed devices employ a single mode dielectric waveguide embedded within a single mode THz waveguide. In addition to the training of students, the broader impact of this work is based on the development of fundamentally new technology. By creating the components necessary to make THz spectroscopic systems more readily available, we believe that this technology will be beneficial not only to the Intelligence Community, but also to a broader range of scientific communities.