Ultrafast carrier dynamics in GeSn thin film based on time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy

We measure the time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy of GeSn thin film and studied the ultrafast dynamics of its photo-generated carriers.The experimental results show that there are photo-generated carriers in GeSn under femtosecond laser excitation at 2500 nm,and its pump-induced photoconductivity can be explained by the Drude–Smith model.The carrier recombination process is mainly dominated by defect-assisted Auger processes and defect capture.The firstand second-order recombination rates are obtained by the rate equation fitting,which are(2.6±1.1)×10^(-2)ps^(-1)and(6.6±1.8)×10^(-19)cm^(3)·ps^(-1),respectively.Meanwhile,we also obtain the diffusion length of photo-generated carriers in GeSn,which is about 0.4μm,and it changes with the pump delay time.These results are important for the GeSn-based infrared optoelectronic devices,and demonstrate that Ge Sn materials can be applied to high-speed optoelectronic detectors and other applications.

Comprehensive study of the ultrafast photoexcited carrier dynamics in Sb_(2)Te_(3)–GeTe superlattices

Chalcogenide superlattices Sb_(2)Te_(3)-GeTe is a candidate for interfacial phase-change memory(iPCM) data storage devices.By employing terahertz emission spectroscopy and the transient reflectance spectroscopy together,we investigate the ultrafast photoexcited carrier dynamics and current transients in Sb_(2)Te_(3)-GeTe superlattices.Sample orientation and excitation polarization dependences of the THz emission confirm that ultrafast thermo-electric,shift and injection currents contribute to the THz generation in Sb_(2)Te_(3)-GeTe superlattices.By decreasing the thickness and increasing the number of GeTe and Sb_(2)Te_(3) layer,the interlayer coupling can be enhanced,which significantly reduces the contribution from circular photo-galvanic effect(CPGE).A photo-induced bleaching in the transient reflectance spectroscopy probed in the range of~1100 nm to~1400 nm further demonstrates a gapped state resulting from the interlayer coupling.These demonstrates play an important role in the development of iPCM-based high-speed optoelectronic devices.

Terahertz technology in intraoperative neurodiagnostics:A review

Terahertz(THz)technology offers novel opportunities in biology and medicine,thanks to the unique features of THzwave interactions with tissues and cells.Among them,we particularly notice strong sensitivity of THz waves to the tissue water,as a medium for biochemical reactions and a main endogenous marker for THz spectroscopy and imaging.Tissues of the brain have an exceptionally high content of water.This factor,along with the features of the structural organization and biochemistry of neuronal and glial tissues,makes the brain an exciting subject to study in the THz range.In this paper,progress and prospects of THz technology in neurodiagnostics are overviewed,including diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease,myelin deficit,tumors of the central nervous system(with an emphasis on brain gliomas),and traumatic brain injuries.Fundamental and applied challenges in study of the THz-wave–brain tissue interactions and development of the THz biomedical tools and systems for neurodiagnostics are discussed.

Terahertz spectroscopy of water in nonionic reverse micelles

The dynamics of water within a nanopool of a reverse micelle is heavily affected by the amphiphilic interface.In this work,the terahertz(THz)spectra of cyclohexane/Igepal/water nonionic reverse micelle mixture are measured by THz timedomain spectroscopy and analyzed with two Debye models and complex permittivity of background with volume ratios.Based on the fitted parameters of bulk and fast water,the molar concentration of all kinds of water molecules and hydration water molecule number per Igepal molecule are calculated.We find that slow hydration water has the highest proportion in water when the radius parameterω_(0)<10,while bulk water becomes the main component whenω_(0)≥10.The feature radius ratio of nonhydrated and hydrated water to total water nanopool is roughly obtained from 0.39 to 0.85 with increasingω_(0).

Calibration method to improve the accuracy of THz imaging and spectroscopy in reflection geometry

We introduce a novel method to accurately extract the optical parameters in terahertz reflection imaging. Our method builds on standard self-referencing methods using the reflected signal from the bottom of the imaging window material to further compensate for time-dependent system fluctuations and position-dependent variation in the window thickness. Our proposed method not only improves the accuracy, but also simplifies the imaging procedure and reduces measurement times.

Low-frequency vibrational modes of glutamine

High-resolution terahertz absorption and Raman spectra of glutamine in the frequency region 0.2 THz-2.8 THz are obtained by using THz time domain spectroscopy and low-frequency Raman spectroscopy. Based on the experimental and the computational results, the vibration modes corresponding to the terahertz absorption and Raman scatting peaks are assigned and further verified by the theoretical calculations. Spectral investigation of the periodic structure of glutamine based on the sophisticated hybrid density functional B3LYP indicates that the vibrational modes come mainly from the inter-molecular hydrogen bond in this frequency region.

Study of broadband THz time-domain spectroscopy at different relative humidity levels

Two detection techniques of broadband terahertz（THz）time-domain spectroscopy-THz air-biased coherent detection（THz-ABCD;from 0.3 to 14 THz）and electro-optical（EO）detection（from 0.3 to 7 THz）-are both performed at several different relative humidity levels.The THz power exponentially decays with the increase in relative humidity.The dynamic range of the main pulse in the time domain linearly decreases as the relative humidity increases from 0%to 40%,and linear fittings show that the slopes are-0.017 and-0.019 for THz-ABCD and EO detection,respectively.Because of the multiple reflections caused by the crystal in the common EO detection,THz-ABCD has better spectral resolution（17 GHz）than that of EO detection（170 GHz）.The spectrum of water vapor absorption measured by THz-ABCD is also compared with that measured by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR）.

Full Wavefield Analysis for Damage Assessment in Composite Materials

In this paper damage assessment based on guided elastic wave propagation phenomenon is presented.Guided waves are generated by piezoelectric transducer and registered by scanning laser doppler vibrometer(SLDV).Signal processing is based on the analysis of full wavefield measurements gathered from dense mesh of measurement points spanned over area of investigated samples.Full wavefield measurement approach allows creation of animations presenting the guided wave propagation in the structure.Moreover such approach is suitable for analysis of interaction of guided waves with discontinuities located in structure.In the research attention is paid especially on analysis of phenomenon of S0/A0′guided wave mode conversion due to interaction with investigated discontinuities-teflon inserts and impact damage.The presented work is related to glass fibre reinforced polymer(GFRP)samples.In the research,auxiliary non-destructive testing(NDT)method is also utilized.The aim of this method is to indicate the depth of discontinuity,and to prove that delamination was created in the case of impact damage.Auxiliary method is based on terahertz spectroscopy(THz)where the analysis of propagation of electromagnetic waves in the terahertz band is conducted.THz spectroscopy method can be utilized for damage assessment in the dielectric materials like GFRP.

Composition-dependent ultra-high photoconductivity in ternary CdSxSe1-x nanobelts as measured by optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy

We employ optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy to investigate the composition-dependent photoconductivity in ternary CdSxSel_x nanobelts. The observed carrier dynamics of CdS nanobelts display much shorter lifetime than those of ternary CdSKSel_K nanobelts. This indicates the implementation of CdS nanobelts as ultrafast switching devices with a switching speed potentially up to 46.7 GHz. Surprisingly, ternary CdS,-Sel_x nanobelts are found to exhibit much higher photoconductivity than binary CdS and CdSe. This is attributed to the higher photocarrier densities in ternary compounds. In addition, the presence of Se in samples resulted in prominent CdSe-like transverse optical （TO） phonon modes due to electron-phonon interactions. The strength of this mode shows a large drop upon photoexcitation but recovers gradually with time. These results demonstrated that growth of ternary nanostructures can be utilized to alleviate the high surface defect density in nanostructures and improve their photoconductivity.

HIGH-FREQUENCY DIELECTRIC SPECTROSCOPY OF BaTiO_(3)CORE-SILICA SHELL NANOCOMPOSITES:PROBLEM OF INTERDIFFUSION

Three types of BaTiO3 core-amorphous nanoshell composite ceramics were processed from the same core-shell powder by standard sintering,spark-plasma sintering and two-step sintering techniques and characterized by XRD,HRSEM and broadband dielectric spectroscopy in the frequency range 10^(3)-10^(13)Hz including the THz and IR range.The samples differed by porosity and by the amount of interdiffusion from the cores to shells,in correlation with their increasing porosity.The dielectric spectra were also calculated using suitable models based on effective medium approximation.The measurements revealed a strong dielectric dispersion below the THz range,which cannot be explained by the modeling,and whose strength was in correlation with the degree of interdiffusion.It is assigned to an effect of the interdiffusion layers,giving rise to a strong interfacial polarization.It appears that the high-frequency dielectric spectroscopy is an extremely sensitive tool for detection of any gradient layers and sample inhomogeneities even in dielectric materials with negligible conductivity.

Temperature dependence of the point defect properties of GaN thin films studied by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

The dielectric functions of GaN for the temperature and frequency ranges of 10–300 K and 0.3–1 THz are obtained using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.It is found that there are oscillations of the dielectric functions at various temperatures.Physically,the oscillation behavior is attributed to the resonance states of the point defects in the material.Furthermore,the dielectric functions are well fitted by the combination of the simple Drude model together with the classical damped oscillator model.According to the values of the fitting parameters,the concentration and electron lifetime of the point defects for various temperatures are determined,and the temperature dependences of them are in accordance with the previously reported result.Therefore,terahertz time-domain spectroscopy can be considered as a promising technique for investigating the relevant characteristics of the point defects in semiconductor materials.

Review of theoretical methods and research aspects for detecting leaf water content using terahertz spectroscopy and imaging

The water content in vegetative leaves is an important indicator to plant science.It reveals the physiological status of plants and provides valuable information in irrigation management.Terahertz(THz)as a state-of-the-art technology shows great potential in measuring and monitoring the water status in plant leaves.This paper reviewed the theoretical models for calculating water content in the plant leaves,the methods for eliminating the scattering loss caused by the surface roughness of leaf,the applications of THz spectroscopy and THz imaging for monitoring leaf water content and describing leaf water distribution.The survey of the researches presents the considerable advantages of this emerging and promising THz technology in agriculture.

Detection of a glass fiber-reinforced polymer with defects by terahertz computed tomography

Terahertz(THz)computed tomography(THz CT)exhibits the potential to provide a wealth of data,surpassing that of THz tomographic imaging in applications such as detecting embedded defects,particularly defect evolution within a glass fiber-reinforced polymer.To realize high-resolution THz CT,a systematic approach guided by wave propagation simulation was employed.First,the front wave of the THz beam was fine-tuned to realize a beam diameter of<2 mm.To mitigate the strong refractive effect and minimize Fresnel reflection loss,a refractiveindex-matching material was fabricated and utilized as a rounded enclosure for samples with sharp corners.To further improve the reconstruction resolution,a flat surface enclosure was applied to collect all incident beams at the detector.To realize comparable results to those of full-angle CT,a limited-angle CT approach was implemented,and the frequency range 0.1–3 THz was used in the image reconstruction study.The experimental and simulated images were used to validate the findings,and conductive and non-conductive defects measuring 200μm were successfully visualized.Additionally,a custom-built user interface enabled us to visualize the field spatial distribution of the THz beam with respect to frequency.