Current Projects

Our research activities are conducted mainly around the following five areas:

1. Advanced Device Development

• Ultrafast photoconductors(e.g., ErAs:GaAs, metal-implanted InGaAs, ZnO).
• Room-temp thermal detectors(e.g., single-crystal LiTaO3 pyroelectrics).
• Room-temp ultrafast Schottky rectifiers(e.g., CMOS-compatible Si-silicide diodes).

2. Advanced Component and Circuit Development

• PC switches and impulsive illuminators; ultra-wideband gated receiver.
• THz CW sources based on photo-mixing and novel optoelectronic effects.
• 2D THz focal-plane, "staring" arrays.

3. THz System Development

• Active (radar) and passive system architecting: analysis and optimization.
• All-room-temperature THz camera w/readout electronics and human interface.

4. Signal and Image Processing

• THz resonant signature identification (e.g., explosive and biosignatures).
• THz image processing for biomedicine (e.g., skin-burn imaging, corneal imaging).

5. THz Phenomenology

• Scattering of THz radiation from diffuse media.
• Solid-state physics of THz low-lying vibrational resonances.
• THz interation (particularly in reflection) with human skin and tissue.