Double-Metal Terahertz Emitter Characterisation

What is it about?

Double-metal emitters are devices that produce terahertz (THz) light without the need for an electrical supply. This paper takes a look at the way these emitters behave at low temperatures to see what effects this may have on the THz produced. A few of these emitters were made using different metal combinations; Gold & Aluminium, Gold & Lead, and Copper & Chrome. The Copper/Chrome emitter was found to perform the best of the three at room temperature and gave the most THz emission at around 150 K (around -125 degrees Celsius). The Gold/Aluminium emitter showed the most consistent THz emission from room temperature all the way down to 4 K ( around -270 degrees Celsius). These results show that these emitters can be useful in low temperature, in-cryostat experiments as they do not need any wiring for an electrical supply and do not need any focussing lenses to be used.

Featured Image