1.1: The truth about terahertz

A few years ago the author had the opportunity to cochair a government review on the state of compact THz source technology. As a point of reference, THz was defined in the study as covering the classical sub-millimeter frequency band (from 300 GHz to 3 THz). Compact coherent radiation devices, with average powers in roughly the 100 μW to 1 W range, in the laser, optoelectronic, solid state, and vacuum electronic technology families were examined at the review, along with a discussion of notional applications, government needs, and foreign THz S&T activity. During the course of completing the final report it became clear to the author that a rudimentary analysis of applications and device power-frequency limits would be beneficial towards putting the THz technological pursuit into proper perspective: to in effect identify the opportunities and challenges of working in the THz regime, or to put it just a bit more bluntly, to help separate the hype from the reality. The main results and conclusions of this analysis will be summarized in this talk.