Open AccessOptically tuned wideband terahertz wave amplitude modulator based on gold-doped silicon
Author(s) -
Wei Tian,
Qiye Wen,
Zhi Chen,
Qinghui Yang,
Yulan Jing,
Huaiwu Zhang
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
wuli xuebao
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 47
ISSN - 1000-3290
DOI - 10.7498/aps.64.028401
Subject(s) - terahertz radiation , amplitude modulation , materials science , modulation (music) , optoelectronics , doping , wideband , broadband , dopant , silicon , frequency modulation , amplitude , optics , physics , bandwidth (computing) , telecommunications , acoustics , computer science
In this paper, we present a broadband terahertz wave amplitude modulator based on optically-controlled gold-doped silicon. Gold dots with a diameter of 40 μm are used as a dopant source. Experimental results indicate that interstitial Au atoms provide effective recombination centers for photo-generated electron-hole pairs in Si body, leading to a significant decrease of the minority carrier lifetime from more than 10 μs to about 110 ns. Dynamic modulation measurement at 340 GHz carrier shows a modulation depth of 21% and a maximum modulation speed of 4.3 MHz. This modulator has advantages such as wideband operation, high modulation speed, polarization insensitivity, and easy manufacture by using the large-scale integrated technology, and thus can be widely used in terahertz technology.