A simple terahertz spectrometer based on a low-reflectivity Fabry-Perot interferometer using Fourier transform spectroscopy

A simple terahertz (THz) Fourier transform spectrometer is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated with a low-reflectivity Fabry-Perot interferometer. Composed with only two parallel low reflectivity surfaces, this simple spectrometer has the ability to measure the spectrum over more than one octave with a controllable resolution. The emission spectra of a wavelength-tunable photonic transmitter excited by an optical coherent control system are determined by the spectrometer. With a simple algorithm for the spectral reconstruction and a compact structure with easy alignment, the demonstrated spectrometer will meet the needs of many important applications where a compact and convenient spectrometer is required in the frequency range from sub-THz wave up to even visible light. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.