Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS Transistor

Over the last two decades, photomixer-based continuous wave systems developed into versatile and practical tools for terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. The high responsivity to the THz field amplitude of photomixer-based systems is predetermined by the homodyne detection principle that allows the system...

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Main Authors: Kęstutis Ikamas, Dmytro B. But, Alvydas Lisauskas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/1/412
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spelling doaj-1e8e65fdedcf4c0996dc333912a716c12021-01-05T00:01:21ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-01-011141241210.3390/app11010412Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS TransistorKęstutis Ikamas0Dmytro B. But1Alvydas Lisauskas2Institute of Applied Electrodynamics and Telecommunications, Vilnius University, LT-10257 Vilnius, LithuaniaCENTERA Laboratory, Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, 01-142 Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Applied Electrodynamics and Telecommunications, Vilnius University, LT-10257 Vilnius, LithuaniaOver the last two decades, photomixer-based continuous wave systems developed into versatile and practical tools for terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. The high responsivity to the THz field amplitude of photomixer-based systems is predetermined by the homodyne detection principle that allows the system to have high sensitivity. Here, we show that the advantages of homodyne detection can be exploited with broadband power detectors combined with two photomixer sources. For this, we employ a THz detector based on a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor and a broadband bow-tie antenna (TeraFET). At 500 GHz and an effective noise bandwidth of 1 Hz, the response from one photomixer-based THz source resulted in an about 43 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We demonstrate that by employing a homodyne detection system by overlaying the radiation from two photomixers, the SNR can reach up to 70 dB at the same frequency with an integration time 100 ms. The improvement in SNR and the spectroscopic evidence for water vapor lines demonstrated up to 2.2 THz allow us to conclude that these detectors can be successfully used in practical continuous wave THz spectrometry systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/1/412THz power detectorterahertz detectorbroadband antennafield-effect transistorhomodyne detectionterahertz spectroscopy
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Kęstutis Ikamas
Dmytro B. But
Alvydas Lisauskas
spellingShingle Kęstutis Ikamas
Dmytro B. But
Alvydas Lisauskas
Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS Transistor
Applied Sciences
THz power detector
terahertz detector
broadband antenna
field-effect transistor
homodyne detection
terahertz spectroscopy
author_facet Kęstutis Ikamas
Dmytro B. But
Alvydas Lisauskas
author_sort Kęstutis Ikamas
title Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS Transistor
title_short Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS Transistor
title_full Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS Transistor
title_fullStr Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS Transistor
title_full_unstemmed Homodyne Spectroscopy with Broadband Terahertz Power Detector Based on 90-nm Silicon CMOS Transistor
title_sort homodyne spectroscopy with broadband terahertz power detector based on 90-nm silicon cmos transistor
publisher MDPI AG
series Applied Sciences
issn 2076-3417
publishDate 2021-01-01
description Over the last two decades, photomixer-based continuous wave systems developed into versatile and practical tools for terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. The high responsivity to the THz field amplitude of photomixer-based systems is predetermined by the homodyne detection principle that allows the system to have high sensitivity. Here, we show that the advantages of homodyne detection can be exploited with broadband power detectors combined with two photomixer sources. For this, we employ a THz detector based on a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor and a broadband bow-tie antenna (TeraFET). At 500 GHz and an effective noise bandwidth of 1 Hz, the response from one photomixer-based THz source resulted in an about 43 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We demonstrate that by employing a homodyne detection system by overlaying the radiation from two photomixers, the SNR can reach up to 70 dB at the same frequency with an integration time 100 ms. The improvement in SNR and the spectroscopic evidence for water vapor lines demonstrated up to 2.2 THz allow us to conclude that these detectors can be successfully used in practical continuous wave THz spectrometry systems.
topic THz power detector
terahertz detector
broadband antenna
field-effect transistor
homodyne detection
terahertz spectroscopy
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/1/412
work_keys_str_mv AT kestutisikamas homodynespectroscopywithbroadbandterahertzpowerdetectorbasedon90nmsiliconcmostransistor
AT dmytrobbut homodynespectroscopywithbroadbandterahertzpowerdetectorbasedon90nmsiliconcmostransistor
AT alvydaslisauskas homodynespectroscopywithbroadbandterahertzpowerdetectorbasedon90nmsiliconcmostransistor
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