Masayoshi Tonouchi

Carbon nanotube terahertz polarizer.

We describe a film of highly aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes that acts as an excellent terahertz linear polarizer. There is virtually no attenuation (strong absorption) when the terahertz polarization is perpendicular (parallel) to the nanotube axis. From the data, the reduced linear dichrosim was calculated to be 3, corresponding to a nematic order parameter of 1, which demonstrates nearly perfect alignment as well as intrinsically anisotropic terahertz response of single-walled carbon nanotubes in the film.

Terahertz Radiation by an Ultrafast Spontaneous Polarization Modulation of Multiferroic BiFeO 3 Thin Films

Terahertz (THz) radiation has been observed from multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films via ultrafast modulation of spontaneous polarization upon carrier excitation with illumination of femtosecond laser pulses. The radiated THz pulses from BiFeO3 thin films were clarified to directly reflect the spontaneous polarization state, giving rise to a memory effect in a unique style and enabling THz radiation even at zero-bias electric field. On the basis of our findings, we demonstrate potential approaches to ferroelectric nonvolatile random access memory with nondestructive readability and ferroelectric domain imaging microscopy using THz radiation as a sensitive probe.

Broadband Terahertz Polarizers with Ideal Performance Based on Aligned Carbon Nanotube Stacks

We demonstrate a terahertz polarizer built with stacks of aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) exhibiting ideal broadband terahertz properties: 99.9% degree of polarization and extinction ratios of 10(-3) (or 30 dB) from ~0.4 to 2.2 THz. Compared to structurally tuned and fragile wire-grid systems, the performance in these polarizers is driven by the inherent anistropic absorption of SWCNTs that enables a physically robust structure. Supported by a scalable dry contact-transfer approach, these SWCNT-based polarizers are ideal for emerging terahertz applications.

Laser terahertz-emission microscope for inspecting electrical faults in integrated circuits

A laser terahertz-emission microscope (LTEM) system is proposed and developed for inspecting electrical faults in integrated circuits (IC). We test a commercial operational amplifier while the system is operating. Two-dimensional terahertz-emission images of the IC chip are clearly observed while the chip is scanned with a femtosecond laser. When one of the interconnection lines is cut, the damaged chip has a LTEM image different from that of normal chips. The results indicate that the LTEM system is a potential tool for IC inspection.

Fe-implanted InGaAs terahertz emitters for 1.56μm wavelength excitation

We have measured the terahertz (THz) radiations from unimplanted and Fe-implanted In0.53Ga0.47As photoconductive switches excited by the femtosecond laser pulse of 1.56μm wavelength. It has been also observed that the amplitude of the radiated wave form from these photoswitches deviates from linear behavior, and saturates with increase in the power of excitation pulse. Fe implantation to the samples leads to about 1.2 times decrease in the pulse width of radiated THz wave form and 6.5 times reduction in the carrier mobility compared to the unimplanted sample.

Plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials: Active near field coupling between bright superconducting and dark metallic mode resonators

Structured plasmonic metamaterial devices offer the design flexibility to be size scaled for operation across the electromagnetic spectrum and are extremely attractive for generating electromagnetically induced transparency and slow-light behaviors via coupling of bright and dark subwavelength resonators. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a thermally active superconductor-metal coupled resonator based hybrid terahertz metamaterial on a sapphire substrate that shows tunable transparency and slow light behavior as the metamaterial chip is cooled below the high-temperature superconducting phase transition temperature. This hybrid metamaterial opens up the avenues for designing micro-sized active circuitry with switching, modulation, and “slowing down terahertz light” capabilities.

Ultrashort Electromagnetic Pulse Radiation from YBCO Thin Films Excited by Femtosecond Optical Pulse

We have observed ultrashort electromagnetic pulse radiation from YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin-film dipole antennas. The supercurrent transient is created by the excitation of the supercarriers into quasiparticles with a femtosecond laser pulse, and freely propagated electromagnetic pulses are measured and characterized. A pulse with 0.5 ps full width at half-maximum was obtained, containing frequency components up to 2.0 THz. A femtosecond time-resolved characterization of the spectra revealed that they strongly depend on the excitation conditions, and the quasiparticle recombination time becomes longer with increase in the excitation intensity. It is also observed that the radiation power increases in proportion to the square of both the bias current and the laser power in the region of weak excitation, which is consistent with the classical theory based on a two-fluid model. In the region of strong excitation, deviation from the classical theory was observed.

Imaging of large-scale integrated circuits using laser terahertz emission microscopy

We present the redesign and improved performance of the laser terahertz emission microscope (LTEM), which is a potential tool for locating electrical failures in integrated circuits. The LTEM produces an image of the THz waves emitted when the circuit is irradiated by a femtosecond laser; the amplitude of the THz emission is proportional to the local electric field. By redesigning the optical setup and improving the spatial resolution of the system to below 3 microm, we could extend its application to examining of large-scale integration circuits. As example we show the THz emission pattern of the electric field in an 8-bit microprocessor chip under bias voltage.

Fe-implanted InGaAs photoconductive terahertz detectors triggered by 1.56μm femtosecond optical pulses

Performance of InGaAs photoconductive antennas at an excitation wavelength of 1.56μm has been studied as a terahertz (THz) detector. THz waves in time domain are successfully detected, triggered with 1.56μm femtosecond optical pulses, owing to Fe implantation and annealing at 400 and 580 °C. The peak amplitudes of the THz detected waves by the as-implanted and the low-temperature-annealed detectors saturate with increasing the excitation power. The thermal annealing affects both the frequency component and the amplitude of the THz detected waveforms. In particular, annealing at 580 °C induces twice the increase in the amplitude of the signals.

A cross-correlation spectroscopy in subterahertz region using an incoherent light source

A subterahertz (sub-THz) spectroscopic system using a multimode laser diode and photoconductive antennas (PA) has been proposed. It employs a random fluctuation of the light intensity to produce the subterahertz radiation from the emitter PA and also to trigger the detector PA. The signal is obtained as the cross correlation between the sub-THz radiation amplitude and laser light intensity. The decrease in the amplitude and phase delay of the radiation due to transmission from a sample can be calculated from the signal in a broad spectral region of sub-THz. This system is applied to the measurement of the complex refractive indices of Si wafers. The obtained dispersion of the refractive indices is well explained by the Drude model.