On the Power Radiated by Photo Conductive Sources

Abstract (2021)

Authors

A. Fiorellini Bernardis Tera-Hertz Sensing - EEMCS
H. Zhang Tera-Hertz Sensing - EEMCS
P.M. Sberna EKL Processing - EEMCS
J. Bueno Lopez Electronics - EEMCS
A. Neto Tera-Hertz Sensing - EEMCS
Nuria Llombart Tera-Hertz Sensing - EEMCS
Research Group
Tera-Hertz Sensing (EEMCS) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2021 A. Fiorellini Bernardis, H. Zhang, P.M. Sberna, J. Bueno Lopez, A. Neto, Nuria Llombart
DOI
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https://doi.org/10.1109/IRMMW-THz50926.2021.9567350
THz technology THz radiated power Equivalent circuit THz sources Photoconductive antennas (PCAs) Terahertz (THz)
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Published Date

2021

Language

English

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Department

Microelectronics

Research Group

Tera-Hertz Sensing

Abstract

The time evolution of voltages and currents in a pulsed photo conductive antenna (PCA) source is evaluated resorting to a rigorous procedure that stems from semiconductor physics first, to define the phenomena involved in the generation of the photocurrent, and then relies on an equivalent circuit in time domain, providing a direct estimation of the power generated by the PCA as well as its spectral distribution. The circuit model is validated via a campaign of measurements of standard PC antenna sources. The saturation phenomena in the THz radiated power occurring at large optical excitation levels, previously observed by the scientific community and associated to different phenomena, are accurately predicted by the present method, which ascribe their main cause to the feedback from the antenna: indeed, the electromagnetic field generated by the device tend to reduce the strength of the forcing field used to accelerate the photo-carriers.