Emission and Detection of Terahertz Radiation Using Two Dimensional Plasmons in Semiconductor Nano-Heterostructures for Nondestructive Evaluations

摘要

This paper reviews recent advances in emission and detection of terahertz radiation using two dimensional (2D) plasmons in semiconductor nano-heterostructures for nondestructive evaluations. The 2D plasmon resonance is introduced as the operation principle for broadband emission and detection of terahertz radiation. The device structure is based on a high-electron mobility transistor and incorporates the authors' original asymmetrically interdigitated dual-grating gates. Excellent terahertz emission and detection performances are experimentally demonstrated by using InAlAs/InGaAs/InP and/or InGaP/InGaAs/GaAs heterostructure material systems. Their applications to nondestructive material evaluation based on terahertz imaging are also presented.