THz photonics: new technologies leading to discoveries

Jean-Michel Ménard
University of  Ottawa

Abstract

Technological advances have led to major scientific discoveries. This is especially true in the field of optics. The microscope and telescope, for example, are two instruments that provided the enhanced spatial resolution that changed our view of the world. Nowadays, other optical instruments are also being developed to enhance resolution in the spectral domain or to access hard-to-reach spectral windows. Terahertz (THz) photonics is an active field of research focusing on the development of optical tools operating around 1 THz (or 300 µm in wavelength). This radiation, located between the near-infrared and microwave regions, is technologically tricky to generate and detect, but it has quite appealing properties. For example, it can be used to image through seemingly opaque materials, enable high-speed wireless communication, identify molecular compounds from their low-energy spectrum, and monitor quasi-particles in condensed matter. Until now, many of these applications have been hindered by a lack of efficient THz sources and detectors. In this presentation, I will review some of the recent technological progress in this field while focusing on THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), a powerful technique used in condensed matter physics to investigate free carrier dynamics. I will also discuss experimental techniques recently demonstrated by my group to increase the spectral bandwidth and sensitivity of THz spectrometers. Finally, I will show how these technological improvements allowed us to gain new insight on the electrical properties of graphene

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