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Abstract
The objective of this project is to measure amplification from a terahertz quantum
cascade metasurface amplifier. In this project an optical testbed was designed to accomplish this
objective. This will aid in the study of Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs). GMCs have been an
area of great interest for astronomers and the current technology being used for this, the THz
heterodyne receiver, could be improved using an amplifier in the signal path between the sky and
the mixer as is done for lower frequency heterodyne receivers. Although other projects have
demonstrated amplifiers based on quantum cascade gain materials, they could not be
implemented into heterodyne receivers because their output signals could not be coupled to the
next element in the receiver chain. A recently designed amplifier at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory uses a quantum cascade metasurface in place of the previously used waveguide
structure that can overcome this challenge. To design the optical test bed, a mirror block was
designed to focus light from the source to the meta-surface and subsequently focus the amplified
light from the meta-surface onto a detector. This mirror block and the testbed had their geometry,
structure, and placement calculated using a python script written for that purpose. This design
was simulated in SolidWorks to make sure the components would all fit in the area allotted. The
resulting testbed design achieved an angle of incidence of 5.08 degrees and a theoretical beam
radius of 0.3993 mm and a beam diameter of 0.7986 mm at the metasurface. The design met the
requirements, and the design was tested at JPL in June. The experimental beam diameter was 1.2
mm; however, we measured an amplification of 6 dB at 2.48 THz. We consider this a success,
but future projects will try to reduce the beam size to fit the original requirement.