Creation of single nanostructure terahertz science

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K19026
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Nano/Micro science and related fields
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Kawano Yukio 東京工業大学, 科学技術創成研究院, 准教授 (90334250)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: テラヘルツ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Photon energy (meV) in the terahertz (THz) band is an important region corresponding to electrons in various solids, phonon energy, polymer vibration and intermolecular interaction. Therefore, THz technology is expected to be a powerful tool for studying materials science and life science. However, the THz band, which is sandwiched between the light region and the radio wave region, is behind in development in a wide electromagnetic wave band compared to other bands. Because the wavelength (several hundreds of μm) is much longer than that of the visible light, nanoscale-sensing with THz measurements has not been established yet. In this study, we achieved local focusing of THz waves and high sensitivity signal readout, and successfully performed detailed analysis of metals, semiconductors, and polymers.

Free Research Field

テラヘルツ工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

電磁波の幅広い周波数帯の中で、テラヘルツ（THz）帯の計測技術は光領域と電波領域に挟まれているため、他帯域に比べて成熟していない。本研究から、THz波の波長よりも小さなナノスケール領域における分析が可能となり、様々な材料の詳細な観察・解析に適用できる。今後の物質・生体分析に向けて新たな応用可能性を示した点に意義がある。