UTC-PD Integration for Submillimetre-wave Generation

Paper in proceeding, 2008

Because of the inherent difficulty to generate power in the frequency range 0.l-10 THz, the term 'THzgap' has been coined. Among a number of MW/THz generation techniques, the photomixer based sources hold high potential offering wide tunability and decent amounts of output power. The photomixing technique relies on the nonlinear mixing of two closely spaced laser wavelengths generating a beat oscillation at the difference frequency. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the Uni-Travelling-Carrier PhotoDiode (UTCPD) [1] for photomixing, photo receivers, MW/THz-wave generation, fibre-optic communication systems, and wireless communications. UTC-PDs have become very promising by demonstrating output powers of 20 mW at 100 GHz [1] and 25 μW at 0.9 THz [2].