Search Results (3)

In this study, we report enhancement of terahertz (THz) radiation with indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin-film deposited on semi-insulating gallium arsenide substrate (SI-GaAs). The amplitude of THz emission from both ITO/SI-GaAs and bare SI-GaAs substrate as a function of optical pump (i) incident angle, (ii) polarization angle, and (iii) power were investigated. The enhancement of peak amplitude of a THz pulse transmitted through the ITO/SI-GaAs sample in comparison to bare SI-GaAs substrate varied from 100% to 0% when the pump incidence angle changed from 0° to 50°. The maximum enhancement ratio of peak amplitude for a coated sample relative to the bare substrate is approximately up to 2.5 times at the minimum pump intensity of 3.6 TW/m² and gradually decreased to one at the maximum pump intensity of 20 TW/m². From outcomes of these studies, together with data on surface and material characterization of the samples, we show that THz emission originates from the ITO/GaAs interfaces. Further, both interface-field-induced transient current and field-induced optical rectification contribute to the observed THz signal. Observed enhancement was tentatively attributed to surface-plasmon-induced local field enhancement, coupled with constructive interference of forward and retro-reflected backward THz emission from the ITO/GaAs interfaces. The polarity-flip reported previously for very thin Au-coated GaAs was not observed. This was explained by the wide-bandgap, transparency and lower free carriers of ITO. For best results, the incident angle should be in the range of 0 to 30° and the incident polarization should be 0 to 45°. We further predict that the ITO thin film of suitable thickness or with engineered nanostructures, post-annealed under optimum conditions may lead to further enhancement of THz radiation from ITO-coated semiconductor surfaces. Full article

In this paper, the output electrical pulse width of semi-insulating gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switch (SI-GaAs PCSS) is controlled by means of Blumlein pulse formation line. Under the condition that the bias voltage is 28 kV and the laser pulse width is 9.5 ns, the electric pulse width obtained by using high-power pulse system transmission is 10 ns and the output voltage is 23 kV. Based on the Blumlein pulse formation line theory, the output pulse width and transient impedance are analyzed. The results show that the holding time of carriers avalanche multiplication can be controlled. Full article

In this paper, the relationship between the terahertz radiation and the spatial distribution of photogenerated carriers under different bias electric field is studied. Terahertz pulses and the photocurrent of SI-GaAs photoconductive antenna are measured by the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system. The occupancy rate for photogenerated carriers for different energy valleys is obtained by comparing the photocurrent of terahertz field integrating with respect to time with the photocurrent measured by oscilloscope. Results indicate that 93.04% of all photogenerated carriers are located in the Γ valley when the bias electric field is 3.33 kV/cm, and 68.6% of all photogenerated carriers are transferred to the satellite valley when the bias electric field is 20.00 kV/cm. With the bias electric field increasing, the carrier occupancy rate for the satellite valley tends to saturate at 72.16%. In order to obtain the carrier occupancy rate for the satellite valley and saturate value at the high bias electric field, an ensemble Monte Carlo simulation based on the theory of photo-activated charge domain is developed. Full article