The
Centre
for
Intelligent
Antenna
and
Radio
Systems
in
Association
with
IEEE
Engineering
in
Medicine
&
Biology
Chapter
presents
New Frontiers in Terahertz Technology
Professor
Mona
Jarrahi
Associate
Professor
of
Electrical
Engineering
University
of
California
Los
Angeles
Abstract:
Although
unique
potentials
of
terahertz
waves
for
chemical
identification,
material
characterization,
biological
sensing,
and
medical
imaging
have
been
recognized
for
quite
a
while,
the
relatively
poor
performance,
higher
costs,
and
bulky
nature
of
current
terahertz
systems
continue
to
impede
their
deployment
in
field
settings.
In
this
talk,
I
will
describe
some
of
our
recent
results
on
developing
fundamentally
new
terahertz
electronic/optoelectronic
components
and
imaging/spectrometry
architectures
to
mitigate
performance
limitations
of
existing
terahertz
systems.
In
specific,
I
will
introduce
new
designs
of
high-performance
photoconductive
terahertz
sources
that
utilize
plasmonic
antennas
to
offer
terahertz
radiation
at
record-high
power
levels
of
several
milliwatts
–
demonstrating
more
than
three
orders
of
magnitude
increase
compared
to
the
state
of
the
art.
I
will
describe
that
the
unique
capabilities
of
these
plasmonic
antennas
can
be
further
extended
to
develop
terahertz
detectors
and
heterodyne
spectrometers
with
single-photon
detection
sensitivities
over
a
broad
terahertz
bandwidth
at
room
temperatures,
which
has
not
been
possible
through
existing
technologies.
To
achieve
this
significant
performance
improvement,
plasmonic
antennas
and
device
architectures
are
optimized
for
operation
at
telecommunication
wavelengths,
where
very
high
power,
narrow
linewidth,
wavelength
tunable,
compact
and
cost-effective
optical
sources
are
commercially
available.
Therefore,
our
results
pave
the
way
to
compact
and
low-cost
terahertz
sources,
detectors,
and
spectrometers
that
could
offer
numerous
opportunities
for
e.g.,
medical
imaging
and
diagnostics,
atmospheric
sensing,
pharmaceutical
quality
control,
and
security
screening
systems.
And
finally,
I
will
briefly
highlight
our
research
activities
on
development
of
new
types
of
high-performance
terahertz
passive
components
(e.g.,
modulators,
tunable
filters,
and
beam
deflectors)
based
on
novel
reconfigurable
meta-films.
Biography:
Mona
Jarrahi
received
her
B.S.
degree
in
Electrical
Engineering
from
Sharif
University
of
Technology
in
2000
and
her
M.S.
and
Ph.D.
degrees
in
Electrical
Engineering
from
Stanford
University
in
2003
and
2007.
She
served
as
a
Postdoctoral
Scholar
at
University
of
California
Berkeley
from
2007
to
2008.
After
serving
as
an
Assistant
Professor
at
University
of
Michigan
Ann
Arbor,
she
joined
University
of
California
Los
Angeles
in
2013
as
an
Associate
Professor
of
Electrical
Engineering
and
the
Director
of
the
Terahertz
Electronics
Laboratory.
Her
research
group
focuses
on
Terahertz,
Millimeter-Wave
Electronics
and
Optoelectronics;
Imaging
and
Spectroscopy
Systems;
and
Microwave
Photonics.
Prof.
Jarrahi
has
made
significant
contributions
to
the
development
of
ultrafast
electronic
and
optoelectronic
devices
and
integrated
systems
for
terahertz
and
millimeter-wave
sensing,
imaging,
computing,
and
communication
systems
by
utilizing
novel
materials,
nanostructures,
and
quantum
well
structures
as
well
as
innovative
plasmonic
and
optical
concepts.
In
recognition
of
her
outstanding
achievements,
Prof.
Jarrahi
has
received
several
prestigious
awards
in
her
career
including
the
Presidential
Early
Career
Award
for
Scientists
and
Engineers
(PECASE);
Early
Career
Award
in
Nanotechnology
from
the
IEEE
Nanotechnology
Council;
Outstanding
Young
Engineer
Award
from
the
IEEE
Microwave
Theory
and
Techniques
Society;
Booker
Fellowship
from
the
United
States
National
Committee
of
the
International
Union
of
Radio
Science
(USNC/URSI);
Lot
Shafai
Mid-Career
Distinguished
Achievement
Award
from
the
IEEE
Antennas
and
Propagation
Society;
Grainger
Foundation
Frontiers
of
Engineering
Award
from
National
Academy
of
Engineering;
Friedrich
Wilhelm
Bessel
Research
Award
from
Alexander
von
Humboldt
Foundation;
Young
Investigator
Awards
from
the
Army
Research
Office
(ARO),
the
Office
of
Naval
Research
(ONR),
and
the
Defense
Advanced
Research
Projects
Agency
(DARPA);
Early
Career
Award
from
the
National
Science
Foundation
(NSF);
the
Elizabeth
C.
Crosby
Research
Award
from
the
University
of
Michigan;
and
best-paper
awards
at
the
International
Microwave
Symposium,
International
Symposium
on
Antennas
and
Propagation,
and
International
Conference
on
Infrared,
Millimeter,
and
Terahertz
Waves.
She
has
also
been
named
a
Kavli
Fellow
by
the
National
Academy
of
Sciences.
Prof.
Jarrahi
is
actively
involved
in
several
professional
societies
and
has
been
on
program
committees
of
several
conferences
from
IEEE,
OSA,
and
SPIE
societies.
She
is
a
senior
member
of
IEEE,
OSA,
and
SPIE
societies
and
serves
as
a
member
of
the
Terahertz
Technology
and
Applications
Committee
of
IEEE
Microwave
Theory
and
Techniques,
an
editorial
board
member
of
Journal
of
Infrared,
Millimeter
and
Terahertz
Waves,
a
Distinguished
Lecturer
of
IEEE
Microwave
Theory
and
Techniques
Society,
a
Traveling
Lecturer
of
OSA,
and
a
Visiting
Lecturer
of
SPIE.
In
addition,
she
serves
as
a
panelist
and
reviewer
for
National
Science
Foundation
(NSF),
National
Institutes
of
Health
(NIH),
and
Department
of
Energy
(DOE).