High Speed Photodetector for Terahertz Applications

The ever increasing volume of the information to be transmitted and processed demands fast communication systems that can fulfill a throughput of 1 Tb/s or even 10 Tb/s. This requires more than 100 times improvement of performance over today?s fiber optic communication systems, and calls for the development of terahertz or femtosecond technologies. Applied Quantum Systems proposes an innovative photodetector for ultrahigh speed or terahertz applications. The success of this program will lead to drastic improvement of device performance in response speed, gain, responsivity and detectivity. Phase I of this program is to demonstrate the proof-of-concept, while Phase II will be built on the success of Phase I and seek the commercialization of the technology.