Detection properties of photoconductive antennas fabricated on low-temperature-grown GaAs and ErAs:GaAs at subterahertz band

Jitao Zhang, Mingguang Tuo, Min Liang, Hao Xin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy with high sensitivity is essential for biological application considering the strong absorption and scattering effects therein. As the most commonly used THz detector, the photoconductive antenna's (PCA) response greatly relies on the properties of the substrate's material. THz detection properties of the PCAs fabricated on low-temperature-grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) and ErAs:GaAs superlattices were compared at the sub-THz band. The detection efficiency of the PCAs with regard to incident laser power was characterized. In addition, using the PCAs as detectors, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and dynamic range (DR) of a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy were quantified. The result indicates that the PCA detector with LT-GaAs has higher efficiency than the one with ErAs:GaAs. Consequently, the corresponding THz spectrometer has better SNR and DR. This result is contrary to the previous report, in which enhanced detection efficiency was observed with ErAs:GaAs-based PCA, which is probably due to the different structures of ErAs:GaAs superlattices used in the experiment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number061619
JournalOptical Engineering
Volume59
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2020

Keywords

  • ErAs
  • detection
  • low-temperature-grown GaAs
  • photoconductive antenna
  • terahertz

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • General Engineering

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