Terahertz Photonics

本提案的主要目的是开发太赫兹光谱范围的衍射光子元件，并探索太赫兹脉冲在强衍射介质中的传播。该提案的一个主要目标是基于光子晶体的概念，开发一系列专门为远红外或太赫兹光谱范围设计的新型有用光学元件。研究人员在将周期性衍射材料用于光学元件方面取得了巨大的进步，例如从光纤布拉格光栅到胶体晶体陷波滤波器。这种系统还可以用作波导、滤波器、可调谐色散光学器件以及波分复用（WDM）的组件。然而，这些想法很少在太赫兹频率上实现，太赫兹频率是技术重要性日益增加的频谱的一部分。拟议研究的另一个重要方面涉及太赫兹辐射在强散射介质中的传播。近年来，由于实现电磁波定位的前景，这一研究领域受到了极大的关注。有趣的是，尽管光定位的清晰演示在光学领域是相当困难的，但这项研究已经导致了在浑浊介质中成像技术的发展。由于太赫兹成像的许多预期应用涉及浑浊或散射介质，因此将这些成像研究扩展到太赫兹区域将是有价值的

The primary aim of this proposal is the development of diffractive photoniccomponents for the terahertz spectral range, and the exploration of terahertzpulse propagation in strongly diffractive media. One primary aim of thisproposal is to develop a range of new and useful optical components specificallydesigned for the far infrared, or terahertz, spectral range, based on theconcepts of photonic crystals. Researchers have made tremendous strides in theuse of periodically diffractive materials for optical components, with examplesranging from fiber Bragg gratings to colloidal crystal notch filters. Suchsystems could also be useful as waveguides, filters, tunable dispersive optics,and as components for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). However, theseideas have rarely been implemented at terahertz frequencies, a portion of thespectrum with increasing technological importance. Another important aspect ofthe proposed research involves the propagation of THz radiation in stronglyscattering media. This area of research has been of substantial interest inrecent years, motivated by the prospect of achieving localization ofelectromagnetic waves. Interestingly, although a clear demonstration of lightlocalization is quite difficult in the optical regime, this research has led tothe development of techniques for imaging in turbid media. Since many of theexpected applications of THz imaging involve turbid or scattering media, it willbe valuable to extend these imaging studies to the THz regime