Not long ago, the terahertz frequency range was considered the last final frontier of the electromagnetic spectrum. The main reason was the difficulty in generating intense, directional terahertz radiation. During the past few years, optoelectronic approaches based on modern laser technologies, as well as high-power electronic emitters, have helped to bridge the “terahertz gap”. This has opened up a wealth of applications, taking advantage of the fact that materials like synthetics, textiles, paper and cardboard are transparent to terahertz waves. In addition, many gases and organic solids – including toxic or explosive substances – show absorption lines at frequencies between 0.1 and 5 THz. Many applications of terahertz radiation are thus related either to imaging or to terahertz spectroscopy. A third important research area is terahertz communication, where wireless transfer benefits from high carrier frequencies.

TOPTICA is the only company in the world that offers pulsed and cw lasers for terahertz generation, as well as complete time-domain and frequency-domain spectroscopy platforms. We are proud to serve the exciting, ever-growing field of terahertz science.