Traceable terahertz power measurement from 1 THz to 5 THz.

The metrology institute in Germany, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), calibrates the spectral responsivity of THz detectors at 2.52 THz traceable to International System of Units. The Terahertz detector calibration facility is equipped with a standard detector calibrated against a cryogenic radiometer at this frequency. In order to extend this service to a broader spectral range in the THz region a new standard detector was developed. This detector is based on a commercial thermopile detector. Its absorber was modified and characterized by spectroscopic methods with respect to its absorptance and reflectance from 1 THz to 5 THz and at the wavelength of a helium-neon laser in the visible spectral range. This offers the possibility of tracing back the THz power responsivity scale to the more accurate responsivity scale in the visible spectral range and thereby to reduce the uncertainty of detector calibrations in the THz range significantly.