Cabon nanotube yarns as miniature black-body radiator for broadband terahertz emission

A new miniature black-body radiator with fast electrical modulation capability was fabricated using carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns (Ø 20-100 μm). The small diameter of the yarn allows a fast pulsed-modulation (> 100 Hz) without the need of a mechanical chopper. Furthermore, the single CNT yarn handles reliably high currents > 100 mA for high power operation. It can be even used in an array configuration with integrated filters and collimator lenses. Thus, these CNT yarns can be applied as electrically modulated broadband THz sources for fast monitoring of thin objects e.g. papers, envelopes and packages in production lines as well as in miniaturized secure thermal infrared communication systems [1] with increased bit rates.