Imaging by terahertz photon counting

Kenji Ikushima; Susumu Komiyama

doi:10.1016/j.crhy.2010.06.009

Imaging by terahertz photon counting
[Comptage de photons pour l'imagerie térahertz]

Kenji Ikushima ^1,² ; Susumu Komiyama ³

¹ Department of Applied Physics, Tokyo University of A & T, Naka-cho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
² PRESTO, JST, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
³ Department of Basic Science, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan

Comptes Rendus. Physique, Volume 11 (2010) no. 7-8, pp. 444-456.

Résumé
Abstract

Les techniques de comptage de photons se révèlent indispensables pour détecter des rayonnements visibles ou infrarouges très peu intenses. Dans le domaine des ondes térahertz, ces techniques n'étaient pas employées jusqu'à présent, car elles sont rendues très difficiles à mettre en œuvre à cause de l'énergie très faible de chaque photon térahertz, qui est au moins 100 fois plus faible que celle des photons infrarouges ou visibles. Dans ce papier, nous donnons une revue des récentes techniques de comptage de photons térahertz, réalisées à l'aide de détecteurs de type boite quantique à semi-conducteur, qui nous ont permis de construire un microscope térahertz à balayage. La dynamique de détection est augmentée de 6 ordres de grandeur grâce à l'effet Hall quantique dans les détecteurs. Nous avons utilisé notre microscope térahertz pour étudier des composants semi-conducteurs à effet Hall quantique. Ainsi, nous avons pu imager le très faible rayonnement cyclotron émis par un gaz d'électrons hors équilibre. Grâce à la sensibilité inégalée de notre instrument, nous avons mis en évidence des phénomènes de dynamique des électrons pas encore observés. En plus des études des composants à semi-conducteurs reportées ici, notre dispositif pourra être employé dans différents domaines scientifiques comme la dynamique moléculaire, la micro-thermographie, ou l'activité cellulaire en biologie.

Photon counting method is indispensable in visible/near-infrared optical measurements for detecting extremely weak radiation. The method, however, has been inaccessible in terahertz region, where the photon energies are more than 100 times smaller and catching individual photons is difficult. Here we review photon counting measurements of terahertz waves, by incorporating a semiconductor quantum-dot terahertz-photon detector into a scanning terahertz microscope. By using a quantum Hall effect detector as well, measurements cover the intensity dynamic range more than six orders of magnitude. Applying the measurement system to the study of semiconductor quantum Hall effect devices, we image extremely weak cyclotron radiation emitted by nonequilibrium electrons. Owing to the unprecedented sensitivity, a variety of new features of electron kinetics are unveiled. Besides semiconductor electric devices studied here, the experimental method will find application in diverse areas of molecular dynamics, microthermography, and cell activities.

Publié le : 2010-07-27

DOI : 10.1016/j.crhy.2010.06.009

Keywords: Terahertz, Photon detection, Quantum dot, Quantum Hall effect
Mot clés : Térahertz, Détection de photons, Point quantique, Effet Hall quantique

Affiliations des auteurs :

Kenji Ikushima ^{1, 2} ; Susumu Komiyama ³

¹ Department of Applied Physics, Tokyo University of A & T, Naka-cho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
² PRESTO, JST, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
³ Department of Basic Science, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan

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     author = {Kenji Ikushima and Susumu Komiyama},
     title = {Imaging by terahertz photon counting},
     journal = {Comptes Rendus. Physique},
     pages = {444--456},
     publisher = {Elsevier},
     volume = {11},
     number = {7-8},
     year = {2010},
     doi = {10.1016/j.crhy.2010.06.009},
     language = {en},
}

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Kenji Ikushima; Susumu Komiyama. Imaging by terahertz photon counting. Comptes Rendus. Physique, Volume 11 (2010) no. 7-8, pp. 444-456. doi : 10.1016/j.crhy.2010.06.009. https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/physique/articles/10.1016/j.crhy.2010.06.009/

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