Abstract
The advantageous properties of terahertz waves, such as their transmission through objects opaque to visible light, are attracting attention for imaging applications1,2. A promising approach for achieving high spatial resolution is the use of near-field imaging3,4. Although this method has been well established in the visible5,6 and microwave7,8 regions, it is challenging to perform in the terahertz region. In the terahertz techniques investigated to date9,10,11, detectors have been located remotely from the probe, which degrades sensitivity, and the influence of far-field waves is unavoidable. Here we present a new integrated detection device for terahertz near-field imaging in which all the necessary detection components—an aperture, a probe and a terahertz detector—are integrated on one semiconductor chip, which is cryogenically cooled. This scheme allows highly sensitive, high-resolution detection of the evanescent field alone and promises new capabilities for high-resolution terahertz imaging.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge support from Japan Science and Technology Agency.
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Y.K. performed the experimental work, calculations and project planning. K.I. dealt with wafer supply.
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Kawano, Y., Ishibashi, K. An on-chip near-field terahertz probe and detector. Nature Photon 2, 618–621 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2008.157
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2008.157
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