太赫兹技术及其应用研究进展

概述了利用光整流、光电导天线、参量振荡、空气等离子体等方式产生太赫兹(THz)波,以及利用电光取样、光电导天线、空气等离子体等探测THz波的方法。阐述了THz时域光谱技术以及近年来发展的异步电光取样技术。讨论了THz技术在各领域的应用。重点介绍了本课题组近年来致力于THz检测技术在毒品检测识别方面的研究情况。建立了含有38种纯度在90%以上的THz毒品谱库,并采用人工神经网络、支持向量机等方法对毒品进行计算机自动识别,研究确定了毒品纯度和有效成分含量的理论和实验方法。用高斯软件对个别品种,如甲基苯丙氨(MA)、氯氨酮、海洛因进行了光谱解析,研究结果为实现毒品的实验室检测提供了依据。最后,简单综述了THz技术的发展前景。     

Highly efficient terahertz electro-optic sampling by material optimization at 1060 nm

Different electro-optic crystals (CdTe, DAST, GaAs, GaP, and ZnTe) are investigated with respect to their ability as detection crystals for terahertz pulse electro-optic sampling at a wavelength of 1060 nm. Calculations of the detection response are in good qualitative agreement with experimental results. While CdTe shows the strongest signal for applications below 1 THz, GaP exhibits a broadband spectrum. By the choice of an adequate crystal a comparable detection efficiency to electro-optic sampling at a wavelength of 800 nm can be achieved.     

Terahertz polarization imaging

We present a new method to measure the polarization state of a terahertz pulse by using a modified electro-optic sampling setup. To illustrate the power of this method, we show two examples in which the knowledge of the polarization of the terahertz pulse is essential for interpreting the results: spectroscopy measurements on polystyrene foam and terahertz images of a plastic coin. Both measurements show a sample-induced rotation of the terahertz electric field vector, which is surprisingly large and is a strong function of frequency. A promising aspect of our setup is the possibility of simultaneously measuring both transversal electric field components.     

太赫兹吸收光谱的频率误差修正研究

在用太赫兹时域光谱(THz-TDS)系统测量样品THz吸收光谱的过程中,电光采样系统的采样误差往往导致测得的THz吸收频率与真实值间存在偏差。针对此问题,利用一氧化碳(CO)分子THz吸收峰的分布特性研究了对THz-TDS系统测量数据进行修正、从而提高THz吸收频率测量精度的方法。首先通过实验测得了2.0×105 Pa 压强下CO气体的一系列等间隔分布的THz吸收峰,然后把测得的吸收峰峰位与JPL标准数据库中CO分子的吸收频率进行对比,得到了实验数据的误差值。通过分析误差值随吸收频率的分布规律,发现二者间呈正线性相关,在此基础上拟合得到了实验数据的误差修正模型。用所建立的模型对实验数据进行修正后,最大误差值为3.36 GHz,较修正前降低了两个数量级,表明根据CO分子的THz吸收峰可有效修正THz-TDS系统的测量误差,从而提高THz吸收光谱的精度。本研究对材料分析识别以及分子光谱标准数据库的建立具有重要意义。     

电光聚合物在全光技术实现THz波产生与检测中的研究进展

研究和开发基于超短波和低能量激光系统的高振幅、宽频带的太赫兹系统一直是太赫兹应用领域的一个热点。与传统电光晶体材料相比,以电光聚合物薄膜作为太赫兹波产生和检测的最大的优势在于： 一方面电光聚合物不具有晶格结构相应的不存在声子的吸收和太赫兹折射率的散射问题,避免光谱间隙的产生;另一方面电光聚合物薄膜与已用于宽频太赫兹系统中的超薄电光晶体材料相比,更易于加工和处理。另外,可以自行设计得到低相位失配和高电光系数的电光聚合物材料,得到高效率和宽频带的太赫兹辐射源。可以预见,电光聚合物在这一领域的应用必将有宽阔的发展空间和学术研究意义。介绍电光聚合物的电光效应及二阶非线性生色团合成等相关理论问题基础上,综述了近二十多年来,电光聚合物在基于全光技术实现太赫兹波产生与检测系统中的研究进展,主要包括: 掺钛蓝宝石飞秒激光激发下,共聚型和主客体型电光聚合物实现太赫兹波产生与检测;光纤飞秒激光激发下,主客体型电光聚合物实现太赫兹波的产生与检测。     

Terahertz real-time imaging with balanced electro-optic detection

We propose a method for two-dimensional terahertz (THz) real-time imaging which systemically integrates the THz balanced electro-optic sampling technique and the dynamic subtraction technique. The proposed method can effectively improve the signal to noise ratio and the spectrum measurement accuracy of the imaging system. Experiment results demonstrate the advantage of the method.     

A Theoretical and Experimental Research on Terahertz Electro-Optic Sampling at Near-Zero Optical Transmission Point

We report an improved theoretical model to characterize terahertz electro-optic （F,O） sampling detection operating at near crossed-polarizer design by considering the nonzero minimal transmission of polarizers and the polarization purity of laser beam. The proof-of-concept experiments show that the model can give quiet reasonable explanations on many experimental phenomena in THz EO detection, e.g. the modulation depth vs the different optical biases, the noise level from the balance detector vs the input probe beam power, the main origin of the background light and the incomplete cancellation of noise from the laser intensity fluctuation in balanced detection. The terahertz signals and the noises are also measured based on two different EO sampling schemes for comparison. The measured results support our model very well.     

偏振方向对THz电光探测影响的理论研究

采用线性电光效应耦合波理论，系统地研究了用无中心反演对称性的立方晶系晶体作为探测晶体时，terahertz(THz)辐射信号和探测光的偏振方向对电光探测的影响. 研究结果发现，THz辐射和探测光的偏振方向都对电光探测影响很大，沿(110)方向传播时可以获得最大的探测灵敏度，最适合THz的横场探测. 计算研究的部分结果与已有的实验结果相一致，可为电光探测器的设计提供有用的指导. 关键词： 电光探测 THz辐射 偏振 线性电光效应耦合波理论     

爆炸性物质太赫兹时间分辨光谱测量

利用自由空间电光取样方法,研究了四种炸药在太赫兹(THz)频段的光学特性。通过太赫兹时间分辨光谱测量,作者得到了四种炸药DNT(2,4-二硝基甲苯)、钝化的RDX(黑索今)、HMX(奥克托金)和TNT(2,4,6-三硝基甲苯)的透射光谱,进而计算得出它们在0.2～2.5 THz频段的吸收系数和折射率。作者发现,2,4-DNT在1.08 THz,HMX在1.82 THz存在显著的吸收尖峰,RDX在此频段存在多个吸收峰,TNT的吸收谱线相对其他三种样品比较平缓,这种共振吸收一般认为是由分子间相互作用或声子共振模式引起的。四种炸药对太赫兹波独特的吸收性质说明,太赫兹时间分辨光谱测量技术在炸药特征识别及安全检测领域具有潜在应用价值。作者对致癌物质偶氮苯进行了太赫兹光谱研究,发现了国产偶氮苯和进口偶氮苯在太赫兹波段均存在特征吸收峰,可用于物质鉴别。     

High-temporal-resolution,single-shot characterization of terahertz pulses

A technique for noncollinear cross correlation of electro-optic modulated optical pulses is presented for the single-shot characterization of terahertz waveforms and is compared to established electro-optic terahertz characterization methods. This technique is free from the limitations on time resolution and faithful reproduction of previously demonstrated single-shot amplitude modulation spectral encoding.     

不同中心波长飞秒脉冲激发InAs表面辐射太赫兹波的机理研究

研究了p型(100)InAs在不同中心波长飞秒激发光(750—850nm)作用下的太赫兹(THz)波辐射特性.这种太赫兹辐射的光谱性质与光学Dember效应密切相关,飞秒脉冲激发下产生的载流子在InAs表面的Dember场内做加速运动,从而辐射出THz电磁波.实验结果表明：不同中心波长的激发光作用下,InAs表面产生的Dember电场、光生载流子浓度、谷间散射效应以及处于不同状态的载流子数目都发生了变化,因而激发出太赫兹波的功率、振幅、频谱分布和有效谱宽是不同的.这项研究将有利于THz时域光谱技术以及实验     

不同中心波长飞秒脉冲激发InAs表面辐射太赫兹波的机理研究

研究了p型(100)InAs在不同中心波长飞秒激发光(750—850nm)作用下的太赫兹(THz)波辐射特性.这种太赫兹辐射的光谱性质与光学Dember效应密切相关，飞秒脉冲激发下产生的载流子在InAs表面的Dember场内做加速运动，从而辐射出THz电磁波.实验结果表明：不同中心波长的激发光作用下，InAs表面产生的Dember电场、光生载流子浓度、谷间散射效应以及处于不同状态的载流子数目都发生了变化，因而激发出太赫兹波的功率、振幅、频谱分布和有效谱宽是不同的.这项研究将有利于THz时域光谱技术以及实验     

Generation and detection of terahertz radiation with multilayered electro-optic polymer films

We use optical rectification and electro-optic sensing to generate and detect terahertz radiation, using individual and multilayered stacks of electro-optic polymer films. For comparable thickness, the polymer films are more efficient generators and detectors of terahertz radiation than ZnTe crystals.     

Dispersive terahertz gain of a nonclassical oscillator: BLOCH oscillation in semiconductor superlattices

We have directly determined the spectral shape of the complex conductivities of Bloch oscillating electrons by using the time-domain terahertz (THz) electro-optic sampling technique, and presented experimental evidence for a dispersive Bloch gain in superlattices. This unique dispersive gain without population inversion arises from a nonclassical nature of Bloch oscillations; that is, the phase of the Bloch oscillation is shifted by pi/2 from that of the semiclassical charged harmonic oscillation when driven by the same ac field. By increasing the bias electric field, the gain bandwidth reached approximately 3 THz in our particular sample.     

The terahertz spectrum detection of transgenic food

This paper presents the optical characteristic of the four transgenic foods in the terahertz (THz) by means of electro-optic sampling. The transmission spectra and complex refractive index of the four transgenic foods are obtained. This paper finds that transgenic maize (TGM), transgenic rice (TGR), transgenic soybean (TGS) and transgenic potato (TGP) all have absorption within the frequency range of 0.2 and 2.5 THz. It can be seen that the TGM and TGR have obvious absorption peaks at 1.08 and 1.82 THz respectively, the TGS has a plurality of absorption peak in this frequency band, compared to the other three samples, and the TGP is slow. The unique absorption properties in THz of four transgenic foods show that the time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy can be applied to detect and identify transgenic food.     

Generation of single-cycle THz transients with high electric-field amplitudes

Single-cycle terahertz (THz) transients in the frequency range 0.3-7 THz with electric-field amplitudes of more than 400 kV/cm are generated by four-wave mixing of the fundamental and the second harmonic of 25 fs pulses from a Ti:sapphire amplifier in ionized air. These transients are fully characterized by electro-optic sampling with ZnTe and GaP crystals. One can tune the center frequency of the THz transients by varying the length of the incident pulse. The electric-field amplitude increases linearly with the incident pulse energy.     

Choice of optimal crystal-orientation for terahertz transceiver with zincblende crystal

This paper presents a set of equations describing the terahertz generation and electro-optic detection based on optical rectification in zincblende crystals. The dependence of terahertz emission efficiency on the polarization of incident beam and crystal-orientation is discussed. For the experimental setup with a transceiver which transmits and detects terahertz radiation in the same crystal, we have demonstrated the optimal combination of both parameters above to optimize the working efficiency. Equations supplied in this paper are valid for zincblende crystals with arbitrary crystal-orientation and every possible polarization of an incident beam, which are of great significance for the optimization of a system.     

Comment on "Temporally resolved electro-optic effect"

We comment on the recent Letter by S. P. Jamison et al. [Opt. Lett.31, 1753 (2006)] where the analysis of a chirped probe pulse that is electro-optically modulated by a terahertz pulse reportedly results in a new expression for the electric field. While in principle the derived expressions for the total field after the crystal are correct, in their treatment the authors implicitly assumed that the derived total field is identical to the measured field, without regard to the residual birefringence of a typical electro-optic crystal or a crossed analyzer. Based on this analysis neglecting birefringence, they report that earlier expressions of the temporal field are incorrect. Here we show, on the contrary, that for chirped single-shot terahertz measurement schemes that include residual birefringence, the temporally resolved electro-optic effect is described correctly by the commonly used expression in the literature. We verify this result with our experimental data.     

电光调制在被动综合孔径成像探测中的应用

介绍了一种新型被动综合孔径成像探测方法:视场辐射信号被接收和放大后,通过电光幅度调制将其幅度和相位信息加载到光波上,经光纤传输在末端形成阵列,通过光学系统直接成像,将视场实时恢复出来.该方法可实现工作在微波、毫米波和太赫兹波段的高分辨力实时成像探测的目的.深入分析了电光调制器在综合孔径成像探测中的应用,建立电光调制模型,讨论了在小信号调制下的电光幅度调制近似理论.通过数值计算与仿真分析,得到综合孔径成像探测中电光调制器的调制信号强度限制的有关结论.结果表明,利用上变频电光调制技术和光信息处理,所得到的成像仿真图的半峰全宽和信噪比性能都优于传统的基于下变频技术的成像仿真结果.