A Connected Array of Coherent Photoconductive Pulsed Sources to Generate mW Average Power in the Submillimeter Wavelength Band

Alessandro Garufo, Paolo Maria Sberna, Giorgio Carluccio, Joshua R. Freeman, David R. Bacon, Lianhe Li, Jochem J.A. Baselmans, Nuria Llombart, Andrea Neto, More Authors

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)
139 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A pulsed photoconductive terahertz (THz) source is presented that is able to radiate milliwatt (mW) level average power over a large bandwidth, by exploiting both the optical and electrical properties of photoconductive sources and the ultrawideband properties of connected antenna arrays. An optical system composed of a microlenses array splits the laser beam into N×N  spots that host the active excitation of the antenna arrays. An “ad hoc” network is introduced to bias the array active spots in order to implement a connected antenna array configuration. The array feeds a silicon lens to increase the directivity of the radiated THz beam. A dipole and a slot array are designed. Prototypes have been fabricated and measured. Power and spectrum measurements of the prototypes are in excellent agreement with the expected results. The proposed solutions achieve excellent power radiation levels by exploiting accurate electromagnetic design. Thus, they can offer enhancements to any active system relying on pulsed photoconductive antennas.

Original languageEnglish
Article number8663355
Pages (from-to)221-236
Number of pages16
JournalIEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology
Volume9
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Antenna arrays
  • Bandwidth
  • connected arrays
  • Laser beams
  • Metallization
  • Optical arrays
  • Optical pulses
  • Photoconductivity
  • Power lasers
  • THz photoconductive antennas
  • THz radiated power
  • THz sources
  • THz technology
  • THz time-domain measurements
  • ultra-wideband arrays

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