Experimental Comparison of UTC- and PIN-Photodiodes for Continuous-Wave Terahertz Generation

We carried out an experimental comparison study of the two most established optoelectronic emitters for continuous-wave (cw) terahertz generation: a uni-traveling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) and a pin-photodiode (PIN-PD). Both diodes are commercially available and feature a similar package (fiber-pigtailed housings with a hyper-hemispherical silicon lens). We measured the terahertz output as a function of optical illumination power and bias voltage from 50 GHz up to 1 THz, using a precisely calibrated terahertz power detector. We found that both emitters were comparable in their spectral power under the operating conditions specified by the manufacturers. While the PIN-PD turned out to be more robust against varying operating parameters, the UTC-PD showed no saturation of the emitted terahertz power even for 50 mW optical input power. In addition, we compared the terahertz transmission and infrared (IR) blocking ratio of four different filter materials. These filters are a prerequisite for correct measurements of the absolute terahertz power with thermal detectors.