Time Stretch Single-shot Terahertz Analyzer

Terahertz technology has important applications in security due to its penetration in common packaging material. Being able to measure bursts of THz signal in real-time has applications in medicine, data communication, compact radar, and particle accelerators. Unfortunately, the established terahertz instrumentation systems have a slow response and are not capable of realtime measurements. Photonic Time Stretch is data acquisition method which enables continuous recording of fast single shot events over long record lengths. It has been successfully used to capture THz emission due to electron bunching in synchrotrons, and has led to discovery of new phenomena in optics such as optical rogue waves and soliton molecule dynamics. In this talk we will provide an overview of Time Stretch technology with emphasis on its design for THz operation. We will describe several methods for overcoming the frequency fading phenomena including single sideband, phase diversity and inverse propagation methods as well as balanced detection for common mode rejection to achieve high sensitivity. We will also describe its implementation at optical frequencies.