Active optical control of the terahertz reflectivity of high-resistivity semiconductors

Abstract

We study theoretically and demonstrate experimentally light-controllable terahertz reflectivity of high-resistivity semiconductor wafers. Photocarriers created by interband light absorption form a thin conducting layer at the semiconductor surface, which allows the terahertz reflectivity of the element to be tuned between antireflective $(R<3\%)$ and highly reflective $(R>85\%)$ limits by means of the intensity and wavelength of the optical illumination.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

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