Technologies

Technologies

The technologies presented here are not independent products. They are building blocks that can be combined into a measurement architecture: a source and detector define the accessible band, antennas or optics control coupling, the acquisition geometry determines what is observed, and reconstruction converts the recorded data into a material, surface or volumetric estimate.

The central engineering trade-offs are bandwidth, dynamic range, acquisition time, spatial resolution, penetration and integration. A broadband time-domain system may provide spectroscopic phase information, while an FMCW radar may offer fast coherent ranging. Full-field imaging can reduce scan time, whereas near-field coupling can improve local resolution under more restrictive sample conditions.

Technology selection therefore follows the measurement question. The purpose of these pages is to explain the physical role of each element, the results demonstrated in the associated publications, and the limits that remain when moving from a laboratory configuration to an application-specific instrument.

The portfolio combines pulsed and continuous-wave systems, radar, computational reconstruction, antennas, detectors, lenses, and guided-wave structures.

These technologies occupy different frequency bands and measure different observables. A THz-TDS system records a broadband electric field in time, an FMCW radar converts a coherent frequency sweep into range information, and a full-field camera records spatial intensity through a particular illumination and detector architecture. Their performance cannot be compared through a single resolution number.

Measurement and imaging

Components and propagation

Choosing and integrating a technology

Technology selection follows the sample and the quantity to be recovered. Bandwidth influences spectroscopy and axial resolution; aperture and working distance shape lateral resolution; source power and detector sensitivity set dynamic range; and the acquisition geometry determines whether reflection, transmission, guided propagation, or near-field coupling is possible.

Integration is therefore a research task in its own right. Antennas, lenses, waveguides, optoelectronic devices, positioning, calibration, and reconstruction must work as a coherent chain. The pages below explain both the physical role of each technology and the practical limitations that remain visible in experimental data.

Related publications

  • Linear to radial polarization conversion in the THz domain using a passive system — DOI
  • Theoretical and experimental studies of metallic grids absorption: Application to the design of a bolometer — DOI
  • Near-field wire-based passive probe antenna for the selective detection of the longitudinal electric field at terahertz frequencies — DOI
  • Continuous‐wave scanning terahertz near‐field microscope — DOI
  • Coupling and Propagation of Sommerfeld Waves at 100 and 300 GHz — DOI
  • Propagation beam consideration for 3D THz computed tomography — DOI
  • Room temperature thermopile THz sensor — DOI
  • Aeronautics composite material inspection with a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system — DOI

Performance should be read as a system property

Source power, detector noise, optical or antenna coupling, scan mechanics, environmental stability, signal processing, and sample response all contribute to the final result. Reported resolution or speed therefore belongs to a defined configuration. The technology pages preserve those conditions and distinguish a component specification from the performance of a complete measurement workflow.

Technology development is iterative. Measurements reveal coupling losses, parasitic reflections, thermal drift, saturation, or model mismatch; those observations then guide a change in component geometry, calibration, acquisition, or reconstruction. This feedback between design and experiment is a central part of the research portfolio.

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