We present high precision measurements of polarization rotations in the frequency range from 0.1 to 2.5 THz using a polarization modulation technique. A motorized stage rotates a polarizer at ~80 Hz, and the resulting modulation of the polarization is measured by a lock-in technique. We achieve an accuracy of 0.05{deg} (900 {mu}rad) and a precision of 0.02{deg} (350 {mu}rad) for small rotation angles. A detailed mathematical description of the technique is presented, showing its ability to fully characterize elliptical polarizations from 0.1 to 2.5 THz.
We demonstrate terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) to be an accurate, rapid and scalable method to probe the interaction-induced Fermi velocity renormalization { u}F^* of charge carriers in graphene. This allows the quantitative extraction of all electrical parameters (DC conductivity {sigma}DC, carrier density n, and carrier mobility {mu}) of large-scale graphene films placed on arbitrary substrates via THz-TDS. Particularly relevant are substrates with low relative permittivity (< 5) such as polymeric films, where notable renormalization effects are observed even at relatively large carrier densities (> 10^12 cm-2, Fermi level > 0.1 eV). From an application point of view, the ability to rapidly and non-destructively quantify and map the electrical ({sigma}DC, n, {mu}) and electronic ({ u}F^* ) properties of large-scale graphene on generic substrates is key to utilize this material in applications such as metrology, flexible electronics as well as to monitor graphene transfers using polymers as handling layers.
Linear (spectro) polarimetry is usually performed using separate photon flux measurements after spatial or temporal polarization modulation. Such classical polarimeters are limited in sensitivity and accuracy by systematic effects and noise. We describe a spectral modulation principle that is based on encoding the full linear polarization properties of light in its spectrum. Such spectral modulation is obtained with an optical train of an achromatic quarter-wave retarder, an athermal multiple-order retarder, and a polarizer. The emergent spectral modulation is sinusoidal with its amplitude scaling with the degree of linear polarization and its phase scaling with the angle of linear polarization. The large advantage of this passive setup is that all polarization information is, in principle, contained in a single spectral measurement, thereby eliminating all differential effects that potentially create spurious polarization signals. Since the polarization properties are obtained through curve fitting, the susceptibility to noise is relatively low. We provide general design options for a spectral modulator and describe the design of a prototype modulator. Currently, the setup in combination with a dedicated retrieval algorithm can be used to measure linear polarization signals with a relative accuracy of 5%.
We have observed cyclotron resonance in a high-mobility GaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional electron gas by using the techniques of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy combined with magnetic fields. From this, we calculate the real and imaginary parts of the diagonal elements of the magnetoconductivity tensor, which in turn allows us to extract the concentration, effective mass, and scattering time of the electrons in the sample. We demonstrate the utility of ultrafast terahertz spectroscopy, which can recover the true linewidth of cyclotron resonance in a high-mobility ($>{10}^{6} mathrm{cm^{2} V^{-1} s^{-1}}$) sample without being affected by the saturation effect.
We report a broadband terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) which enables twenty vibrational modes of adenosine nucleoside to be resolved in a wide frequency range of 1-20 THz. The observed spectroscopic features of adenosine are in good agreement with the published spectra obtained using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. This much-extended bandwidth leads to enhanced material characterization capability as it provides spectroscopic information on both intra-molecular and inter-molecular vibrations. In addition, we also report a low-cost Frequency Modulation Continuous Wave (FMCW) imaging system which has a fast measurement speed of 40,000 waveforms per second. Cross-sectional imaging capability through cardboard has also been demonstrated using its excellent penetration capability at a frequency range of 76-81 GHz. We anticipate that the integration of these two complementary imaging technologies would be highly desirable for many real-world applications because it provides both spectroscopic discrimination and penetration capabilities in a single instrument.
In transmission-mode terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), the thickness of a sample is a critical factor that determines an amount of the interaction between terahertz waves and bulk material. If the interaction length is too small, a change in the transmitted signal is overwhelmed by fluctuations and noise in the system. In this case, the sample can no longer be detected. This article presents a criterion to determine the lower thickness boundary of a free-standing film that can still be detectable by free-space transmission-mode THz-TDS. The rigorous analysis yields a simple proportional relation between the sample optical length and the system SNR. The proposed criterion can help to decide whether an alternative terahertz thin-film sensing modality is necessary.