terahertz radiation

While terahertz radiation is emitted as part of the black body radiation from anything with temperatures greater than about 10 kelvin, this thermal emission is very weak. As of 2004 the only viable sources of terahertz radiation were the gyrotron, the backward wave oscillator (”BWO”), the far infrared laser (”FIR laser”), quantum cascade laser, the free electron laser (FEL), synchrotron light sources, photomixing sources, and single-cycle sources used in Terahertz time domain spectroscopy. The first images generated using terahertz radiation date from the 1960’s; however, in 1995, images generated using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy generated a great deal of interest, and sparked a rapid growth in the field of terahertz science and technology. This excitement, along with the associated coining of the term “T-rays”, even showed up in a contemporary novel by Tom Clancy.

There have also been solid-state sources of millimeter and submillimeter waves for many years. AB Millimeter in Paris, for instance, produces a system that covers the entire range from 8 GHz to 1000 GHz with solid state sources and detectors. Nowadays, most time-domain work is done via ultrafast lasers.

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