Abstract

The THz-wave (very far-infrared) region has attracted significant interest in recent years. The generation of THz radiation by optical rectification or photoconductive switching has been extensively studied using femto-second laser pulses [1, 2]. Applied research, such as time domain spectroscopy (TDS), makes use of the ultra-broad bandwidth from the MHz to THz region. In contrast, our research focuses on the development of widely tunable THz-wave sources with narrow linewidth. Several candidate schemes for the THz-wave region have been reported [3-6], but they suffer from one or more of the following undesirable features: (i) large size, (ii) set up and operational difficulties, (iii) narrow tuning range in one operation, (iv) liquid He requirement, and diagnostic applications.

© 2002 Optical Society of America