Hi Randy,
I just got back from the CLEO conference where there was a lot of activity in THz-related stuff on the agenda. The busiest research areas include terahertz plasmonics and metamaterials, terahertz materials spectroscopy research, and the development of new techniques for producing and controlling terahertz waves, of both the broadband time-domain variety and the narrowband variety such as quantum cascade lasers and parametric generation sources.
One of the hot areas in research these days is the generation of high intensity terahertz pulses. The behavior of many materials in high-amplitude fields can be quite different from what one observes in the (usual) low intensity regime, since the response can be non-linear. There are several new methods (within the last few years) for reaching this non-linear regime, and they are generating a lot of excitement. For example, it is now possible to produce a terahertz pulse with an energy of a few microjoules (or even more) using optimized frequency conversion of high-intensity visible light pulses. (Microjoules may not sound like much, but here's the relevant comparison: the 'conventional' method for generating terahertz pulses produces energies in the FEMTOjoule range - so this is an increase in the pulse energy of something like a factor of a billion.) The generation of these high intensity pulses and their use in studying materials are real growth areas in the field.
As this is primarily an academic conference, the vendors and commercial interests usuallly have a pretty low profile at the technical sessions. But, for example, the Picometrix system was prominently featured in one interesting talk on the use of THz imaging for studying neolithic wall paintings (at a site in Turkey) which have been covered over with layers of plaster (i.e., using the THz to see through the plaster to the paintings underneath). Several other vendors had their terahertz spectrometers running on the floor of the trade show (e.g., Menlo Systems), or had terahertz systems prominently featured in their displays. There was also a lot of discussion of the upcoming OTST (Optical Terahertz Science and Technology) conference, which will be held in Kyoto Japan in April 2013. I expect that meeting to be very well attended, and well supported by various Japanese companies.
From the academic's perspective, the field is healthy and growing.
Regards,
Dan
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