A2 THz-sensor development

Project Leader

Prof. Dr. Peter Haring-Bolivar, Prof. Dr. Ullrich Pfeiffer

Initial Situation

THz technology bears a huge potential for civil security related imaging applications. However, current technological capabilities to generate and detect THz radiation are still cumbersome and costly. Moreover, present THz imaging systems are based on individual detectors or on linear arrays consisting of few elements only, which limits the achievable frame rates as higher resolution images can only be attained by scanning sequentially the scene or object of interest with the few available detectors.

Objectives and Work Plan

The aim of this project is the development and evaluation of cost-efficient and compact THz detector technologies for the realization of compact THz camera systems. For this task, transistor-based concepts and bolometric approaches will be investigated. Such detectors and high-frequency circuitry will make it possible to detect THz signals with high efficiency and bandwidth. Novel detection concepts for imaging THz systems will be realized. Established semiconductor materials like GaAs, InP, and GaN, silicon-based (Si, SiGe) are of special interest, as they allow the additional integration of electronic read-out circuitry and signal processing. Silicon-based sensors are particularly interesting as they make a high system integration possible, and they are suited for single chip solutions while reducing costs.

THz imaging	Electronic THz detection