Terahertz generation with an 830 nm all semiconductor femtosecond laser system

We present a THz time-domain spectrometer based on an 830 nm all semiconductor femtosecond laser system. Optical pulses with durations of less than 600 fs are used to gate standard LT-GaAs antennas. We achieve a signal to noise ratio of more than 40 dB in intensity and a bandwidth of 1.4 THz. Simulations based on the Drude-Lorentz model show a good agreement with the measured THz signals. Spectroscopic data on polymeric compounds and first THz images taken with our system will be presented as well.