So-called ‘TeraFETs’ – field-effect transistors with integrated antennas for terahertz detection – are promising candidates for compact, chip-based, yet broadband terahertz receivers.
A team of researchers from Frankfurt University, Ferdinand-Braun Institute (both Germany) and Vilnius University (Lithuania) has managed to significantly improve the performance of TeraFETs, using GaN-based high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). The sensitivity of the new devices was more than twofold higher than with previous GaN terahertz detectors.
The authors employed a TeraScan 1550 from TOPTICA Photonics as a precisely tunable terahertz source in order to characterise the new detectors over a broad frequency range.
TOPTICA’s TeraScan platforms are well-established configurations for frequency-domain terahertz spectroscopy. The TeraScan 1550 aims to sets new benchmarks in terms of terahertz power and dynamic range for demanding applications in Plastic Inspection, Material Research, Gas sensing, and Security.
