Room Temperature, Quantum-Limited THz Heterodyne Detection? Not Yet
Abstract
In their article, Wang et al. [1] report a new scheme for THz heterodyne detection using a laser-driven LTG-GaAs photomixer [2, 3] and make the impressive claim of achieving near quantum-limited sensitivity at room temperature. Unfortunately, their experimental methodology is incorrect, and furthermore the paper provides no information on the mixer conversion loss, an important quantity that could readily have been measured and reported as a consistency check. The paper thus offers no reliable experimental evidence that substantiates the claimed sensitivities. To the contrary, the very high value reported for their photomixer impedance strongly suggests that the conversion loss is quite poor and that the actual sensitivity is far worse than claimed.
Additional Information
The research by BK was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.Attached Files
Submitted - 1907.13198.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 100035
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20191125-133109224
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
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2019-11-25Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Astronomy Department