Performance characteristics of a smith-purcell tunable terahertz source.

A Tunable Terahertz Source (TTS) is beingdeveloped for commercial use by VermontPhotonics under exclusive license. The TTSis based on the Smith-Purcell free electronlaser first reported by the late ProfessorJohn E. Walsh and his co-workers [1]. The TTS is continuouslytunable from less than 0.3 Thz to more than3 Thz (10-100 cm(-1)). It can beoperated CW or pulsed, with repetitionrates from DC to kHz. Detailed outputcharacteristics will be presented alongwith examples of use in spectroscopysystems using a grating monochromator, aFourier transform interferometer or ascanning Fabry Perot etalon. A comparisonwith other Thz sources will be given.