Technology, Capabilities, and Performance of Low Power Terahertz Sources

New and emerging terahertz technology applications make this a very exciting time for the scientists, engineers, and technologists in the field. New sensors and detectors have been the primary driving force behind the unprecedented progress in terahertz technology, but in the last decade extraordinary developments in terahertz sources have also occurred. Driven primarily by space based missions for Earth, planetary, and astrophysical science, frequency multiplied sources have dominated the field in recent years, at least in the 2-3 THz frequency range. More recently, over the past few years terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) have made tremendous strides, finding increasing applications in terahertz systems. Vacuum electronic devices and photonic sources are not far behind either. In this article, the various technologies for terahertz sources are reviewed, and future trends are discussed.