Integrated THz emission and detection in thin-film lithium

 

Integrated THz detectors based on nonlinear polymers have shown high-sensitivity electric field measurements recently well-suited for quantum sensing. To expand its application for example to THz spectroscopy a platform combining the ability to emit and detect signals in the THz-frequency range is required. Since optical rectification -  the typical nonlinear THz generation process -  has a quadratic dependency on the pump signal, the low power resistance of nonlinear polymers prevents the development of efficient integrated on-chip emitters. To overcome this limitation we want to combine this design with a more stable nonlinear material using the platform of thin-film lithium niobate for on-chip THz emission. The integrated waveguide design in combination with THz gold antennas allows the generation of custom-tailored waveforms. At the same platform, thin-film lithium niobate shows all requirements for sensitive integrated THz detectors.