Real-time imaging of electromagnetic fields

The measurement and diagnosis of electromagnetic fields are important foundations for various electronic and optical systems. This paper presents an innovative optically controlled plasma scattering technique for imaging electromagnetic fields. On a silicon wafer, the plasma induced by the photoconductive effect is exploited as an optically controlled scattering probe to image the amplitude and phase of electromagnetic fields. A prototype is built and realizes the imaging of electromagnetic fields radiated from antennas from 870MHz to 0.2 terahertz within one second. Measured results show good agreement with the simulations. It is demonstrated that this new technology improves the efficiency of electromagnetic imaging to a real-time level, while combining various advantages of ultrafast speed, super-resolution, ultra-wideband response, low-cost and vectorial wave mapping ability. This method may initiate a new avenue in the measurement and diagnosis of electromagnetic fields. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

This paper presents an innovative optically controlled plasma scattering technique for imaging electromagnetic fields. The plasma induced by the photoconductive effect is used as an optically controlled scattering probe to image the amplitude and phase of electromagnetic fields in real time. This method offers advantages such as ultrafast speed, super-resolution, ultra-wideband response, low-cost, and vectorial wave mapping ability.