Comparison of an electro-optical system and photo-conducting antenna employed as detectors of pulsed terahertz radiation by means of a new method for measuring spectral width

Two detection systems, electro-optical system and photoconducting system, are tested by the method suggested previously for determining the boundaries of broadband terahertz radiation in time-domain spectroscopy. From a series of measurements the error in determining the operation ranges is calculated. The terahertz spectrometer with an electro-optical detector based on a ZnTe (110) crystal of thickness 2 mm has the operation spectral range of 0.059 – 1.092 THz. The detector utilizing an iPCA-21-05-1000-800-h photo-conducting antenna with the same source of signal demonstrates a wider operation band ranging from 0.017 to 1.6 THz. The method developed makes it possible to experimentally compare the parameters of the considered terahertz spectrometers obtained under the same quality of adjustment.