Technological bricks and concepts for THz remote sensing

Abstract

We present technological bricks and concepts under study which could permit build up of future THz remote sensing systems. Critical issues regarding such systems mainly rely on the availability of sensitive and compact detectors together with powerful and versatile sources. Potential use of plasma waves in nano-transistor is presented which can be exploited for the realization of an efficient mixer operating at THz frequencies to be implemented in a coherent detection scheme. In such a scheme the necessary local oscillator is obtained from a solid state dual frequency laser whose architecture is also detailed. On the emitter side, the preliminary realization of sub-millimeter wave to THz amplifier based an vacuum tube technology, including carbon nano-tubes is also presented.