Russian scientists from Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the V.G. Mokerov Institute of Ultra-High Frequency Semiconductor Electronics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a technology that amplifies terahertz radiation. It is used in space communications and a number of other fields.
For example, it helps to study the structure of biological tissues, identifying various pathologies, to scan luggage at inspection points, and to scan archaeological finds. At the same time, unlike X-rays, terahertz radiation is safe for humans.
Terahertz radiation is radiation with a submillimeter range, its wavelength is about 1 mm or less. To generate such radiation, photoconductive antennas are used: they convert a laser beam into THz waves.
The power of such antennas is limited due to their physical properties. However, scientists have created a special lens that amplifies the power of terahertz radiation. It consists of sapphire crystals in the form of thin fibers. During the experiment, it turned out that with the new sapphire lenses, the power of THz waves generated by the antenna increases by 8.5 times.
The study was supported by a grant from the Presidential Program of the Russian Science Foundation, and its results have already been recognized not only in Russia. The research results are published in the American journal Applied Physics Letters. The developers plan to optimize the shape of the antenna emitter and test the efficiency of the device using higher power lasers.
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