Filling the Terahertz Gap

摘要

At almost every frequency, we have good methods to generate and detect electromagnetic radiation. One crucial exception is the low terahertz range, where despite intensive research there is a severe lack of devices such as oscillators and detectors. With better terahertz technology, researchers could develop new kinds of nondestructive imaging for materials testing and medical diagnosis, and carry out novel spec-troscopic studies of materials and molecules. On page 1291 of this issue, Ozyuzer et al. (1) report an important step toward filling this "terahertz gap." The authors detected relatively strong continuous-wave terahertz radiation emitted by devices made from a cuprate superconductor. In the future, such structures may serve as useful micrometer-sized terahertz devices.