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Materials for terahertz science and technology

Nature Materials volume 1, pages 26–33 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Terahertz spectroscopy systems use far-infrared radiation to extract molecular spectral information in an otherwise inaccessible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Materials research is an essential component of modern terahertz systems: novel, higher-power terahertz sources rely heavily on new materials such as quantum cascade structures. At the same time, terahertz spectroscopy and imaging provide a powerful tool for the characterization of a broad range of materials, including semiconductors and biomolecules.

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Figure 1: The electromagnetic spectrum.
Figure 2: Illustration of a THz-TDS pump probe system.
Figure 3: Simplified conduction band structure of the THz quantum cascade laser demonstrated by Kohler et al . (after ref. 1).
Figure 4: A broadband THz pulse with a frequency spectrum extending into the infrared.
Figure 5: T-ray computed tomography image of two plastic cylinders (after ref. 57).
Figure 6: THz image of an onion cell membrane (after ref. 60).
Figure 7: A biotin-avidin T-ray biosensor (after ref. 65).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the US Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, the Australian Research Council and the Cooperative Research Centre for Sensor, Signal and Information Processing. The authors thank D. Abbott, D. Gray, A. Menikh, S. P. Mickan and the Australian-American Fulbright Commission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Terahertz Research, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street Troy, New York, 12180-3590, USA

    Bradley Ferguson & Xi-Cheng Zhang

  2. Centre for Biomedical Engineering and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Adelaide, 5005, South Australia, Australia

    Bradley Ferguson

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Correspondence to Xi-Cheng Zhang.

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Ferguson, B., Zhang, XC. Materials for terahertz science and technology. Nature Mater 1, 26–33 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat708

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