A High Performance Terahertz Photoconductive Antenna Array Detector With High Synthesis Efficiency

A 2 x 2 terahertz photoconductive antenna (PCA) array detector with high efficiency synthesis characteristic that improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the detected signals has been reported in this paper. By processing the substrate material through a special micromachining process, the current signal generated by the adjacent antenna elements as opposed to that generated by the antenna gap is eliminated. Experiments show that the amplitude of the current signal output by the PCA array detector is consistent with the amplitude of the synchronous superposition of the current signals output by antenna elements, and the synthesis efficiency of the device achieves 93.7%. At the same time, the antenna array detector has low current noise, and its highest SNR is 62 dB under the excitation of different light energy, which is related to the number of antenna array elements.

Automated summary

The 2 x 2 terahertz photoconductive antenna (PCA) array detector in this study demonstrates high efficiency synthesis characteristics, leading to improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of detected signals. Through a special micromachining process, current signal interference from adjacent antenna elements is eliminated, resulting in a 93.7% synthesis efficiency. The detector also exhibits low current noise and achieves a maximum SNR of 62 dB under different light energy excitation, depending on the number of antenna array elements.