All-fiber processing of terahertz-bandwidth signals based on cascaded tapered fibers.

Tapered single-mode fibers are employed to perform dynamic pulse shaping in a bandwidth of several terahertz. The transfer function of cascaded biconical tapers is controlled by introducing a phase shift into one of them through mechanical stretching. It is a simple and low-cost technique with potential to process signals with bandwidths as large as those allocated by standard optical fiber while introducing little degradation. Femtosecond pulses are shaped to prove the concept.

Control of terahertz emission in photoconductive antennas through an additional optical continuous wave.

The manipulation of the operating conditions of photoconductive antennas by means of an additional continuous wave (CW) is reported. It is used to control a fiber-based terahertz (THz) time-domain-spectroscopy system at telecom wavelengths. The injection of an optical CW into the transmitter allows the control of the THz amplitude without causing major degradation to the system performance. This, for instance, can be exploited to perform modulation of the THz signal.