Guided terahertz technology and systems

太赫兹制导技术和系统

• 批准号: RGPIN-2017-04040
• 负责人: Darcie, Thomas
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: University of Victoria
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=648650
• 关键词: Guided; terahertz; technology; systems

Our research program over the past five years has targeted the advancement of terahertz (THz) technology. This work has been facilitated through several major grants and partnerships with industry leading to considerable expertise and numerous collaborations. With this new Discovery Grant application, we seek to create new technology in several promising new directions that have been identified in our prior activities. This work is centered on Guided Terahertz Technology and Systems and comprises three main areas: THz sources and detectors, THz waveguide technology and THz system integration. A major objective is to develop components and systems in which THz waves are entirely confined within waveguide structures, rather than radiating as free-space beams as is typically done in today's systems. It is anticipated that this work will result in terahertz-based tools and instruments that will offer higher dynamic range, lower cost, and more widespread utility than today's free-space terahertz technology.***Our recent work with sources and detectors was motivated by the requirements of higher transmitted power and better receiver sensitivity, and by the desire to work with optical pump wavelengths near 1550 nm where lasers and components developed for telecommunications are far less expensive than those commonly used shorter wavelengths. Newly proposed research focuses on the use of photoconductor devices with nano-scale plasmonic electrode structures to improve efficiency and mid-band-gap absorption in Gallium Arsenide and other materials to shift operation to 1550 nm. These approaches offer at least a factor of 10 increase in output power or receiver sensitivity while reducing cost. ***We have recently made substantial contributions in the area of low-loss waveguides for terahertz applications, demonstrating practical slot-line structures. An objective for future work is to incorporate these low-loss waveguides into THz systems and improve the coupling to sources and detectors to make more efficient systems.***Work in THz systems targets the direct excitation of low-loss waveguides from photoconductor chips to enable terahertz systems with increased utility and dynamic range. Other novel systems concepts will be developed. Of particular interest is a novel spectrometer system that uses coherence to replace conventional time- or frequency-domain systems, with considerable potential reduction in cost.***THz instruments have become important in a variety of industrial and scientific applications, as the radiation is non-ionizing (safe) and offers unique propagation characteristics through interesting materials. Present applications are found in industrial inspection, pharmacology, and imaging. Future applications in these areas and information and communications industries will be enabled through realization of the goals of this project.

在过去的五年里，我们的研究计划一直针对太赫兹（THz）技术的进步。这项工作得到了几项主要赠款和与工业界的伙伴关系的推动，从而产生了大量的专门知识和许多合作。通过这项新的发现资助申请，我们寻求在我们以前的活动中确定的几个有前途的新方向上创造新技术。这项工作的核心是太赫兹制导技术和系统，包括三个主要领域：太赫兹源和探测器，太赫兹波导技术和太赫兹系统集成。一个主要目标是开发组件和系统，其中太赫兹波完全限制在波导结构内，而不是像今天的系统中通常所做的那样作为自由空间光束辐射。预计这项工作将产生基于太赫兹的工具和仪器，这些工具和仪器将提供比今天的自由空间太赫兹技术更高的动态范围，更低的成本和更广泛的实用性。我们最近的工作与源和检测器的动机是更高的传输功率和更好的接收器灵敏度的要求，并希望与1550 nm附近的光泵浦波长的工作，其中激光器和组件开发的电信远低于那些常用的较短的波长。新提出的研究重点是使用具有纳米级等离子体电极结构的光电导体器件，以提高砷化镓和其他材料的效率和中带隙吸收，从而将操作转移到1550 nm。这些方法在降低成本的同时提供输出功率或接收器灵敏度的至少10倍的增加。* 我们最近在太赫兹应用的低损耗波导领域做出了重大贡献，展示了实用的槽线结构。 未来工作的目标是将这些低损耗波导纳入THz系统，并改善与源和检测器的耦合，以使系统更高效。太赫兹系统的工作目标是从光电导体芯片直接激发低损耗波导，以使太赫兹系统具有更高的实用性和动态范围。将开发其他新的系统概念。特别令人感兴趣的是一种新的光谱仪系统，该系统使用相干性来取代传统的时域或频域系统，具有相当大的潜在成本降低。THz仪器在各种工业和科学应用中变得非常重要，因为辐射是非电离的（安全的），并且通过有趣的材料提供独特的传播特性。目前应用于工业检测、药理学和成像。通过实现该项目的目标，将使这些领域和信息和通信行业的未来应用成为可能。