Publication # 129

The authors discuss the possibility of generating, propagating and detecting THz electrical pulses in semiconductor quantum well structures and present preliminary experimental results. Recent advances in semiconductor technology have pushed the performance of electronic and photonic devices well into the GHz regime. The development of devices operating at many THz, however, will require novel structures and will implement physical processes different from those presently used. The authors review their theoretical studies of the mechanisms that can be employed to generate, propagate and detect THz electrical signals in properly designed semiconductor quantum well (QW) structures and discuss their recent experimental investigations of these effects