Millimeter and Sub-Millimeter Wave Performance of an Eras:inalgaas Schottky Diode Coupled to a Single-Turn Square Spiral

We report the first experimental results for noise-equivalent power (NEP) and noise-equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of single-crystal ErAs:InAlGaAs , zero-bias rectifier diodes coupled to free space quasi-optically in the THz region. At a frequency of 639 GHz, an optical NEP of 4.0×10 −12 W / Hz 1/2 is measured with the rectifier coupled to a quasi-plane-wave coherent source through a single-turn square spiral antenna. With a broadband thermal (hot water) source, an NETD of 120 mK is measured from the same device. Antenna radiation patterns at 100 GHz and 639 GHz are also presented.