On the Numerical Modeling of Terahertz Photoconductive Antennas

This paper shows the relevance of mobility models to describe the carrier dynamics for the analysis of radiative semiconductor photoconductive devices in the terahertz regime. We have built a simulator that self-consistently solves the device physics and Maxwell’s equations to study the radiated fields. In particular, we show a significant influence of an accurate description of the steady-state regime of the semiconductor device for calculating radiated electromagnetic fields in the broadside direction. Comparison with measurements shows the accuracy of our simulator and demonstrates the superior performance of numerical schemes based not only on the description of the carrier, electric potential, and field distributions, but also on reliable local mobility models.