The present disclosure relates to a terahertz reflex klystron and a detecting system using the same.
In general, the terahertz (THz) wave refers to an electromagnetic wave whose frequency ranging from 0.3 THz to 3 THz or 0.1 THz to 10 THz. The band of THz wave lies between the infrared wave and the millimeter wave. The THz wave has excellent properties. For example, THz wave has certain ability to penetrate objects, and the photon energy is small. Thus the THz will not cause damage to the objects. At the same time, a lot of material can absorb the THz wave.
A reflex klystron is used to emit electromagnetic waves. In order to emit THz waves, the feature size of the reflex klystron should be small, and the current density of the electron rejection should be high. A traditional terahertz reflex klystron includes a resonant cavity. The resonant cavity includes two coupling outputting holes located on two opposite side walls. The resonant cavity should have a large width, and the size of the terahertz reflex klystron should be large enough. It is hard to decrease the size of the terahertz reflex klystron, and a micro terahertz reflex klystron array cannot be obtained.
What is needed, therefore, is a terahertz reflex klystron and a detecting system using the same that overcomes the problems as discussed above.
Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.
References will now be made to the drawings to describe, in detail, various embodiments of the present detecting system based on terahertz wave.
Referring to
The detecting system 1 is transmission-type. In use, the object 20 is located between the terahertz wave source 10 and the detector 18. The terahertz wave 15 is emitted from the terahertz wave source 10, reaches the object 20, passes through the object 20, and received by the detector 18. The detector 18 obtains the data of the terahertz wave 15 and send the data to the controlling computer 19. The controlling computer 19 processes the data of the terahertz wave 15 to obtain a result and shows the result to the user.
Referring to
The electron emission unit 11 includes an insulating substrate 110, a cathode 111, an electron emitter unit 114, an electron injection layer 113, an insulating layer 116, and an electron extraction grid 115. The cathode 111 is located on the insulating substrate 110. The electron emitter unit 114 is electrically connected to the cathode 111. The electron injection layer 113 is located above and insulated from the cathode 111 via the insulating layer 116. The electron injection layer 113 defines a hollow space 1130, and the electron emitter unit 114 is located in the hollow space 1130. The hollow space 1130 defines a first opening, the electron extraction grid 115 covers the first opening.
A material of the insulating substrate 110 can be silicon, glass, ceramics, plastics, or polymers. A shape and a thickness of insulating base can be selected according to actual needs. The shape of the insulating substrate 110 can be circular, square, or rectangular. In one embodiment, the insulating substrate 110 is square, the length is about 10 mm, and the thickness is about 1 mm.
The cathode 111 is located on a surface of the insulating substrate 110. The insulating layer 116 covers the cathode 111. A first portion of the cathode 111 is exposed to and faces the electron extraction grid 115, and a second portion of the cathode 111 is covered by the electron injection layer 113. The electron emitter unit 114 is located on the first portion of the cathode 111 and electrically connected to the cathode 111. The electron emitter unit 114 faces the electron extraction grid 115. The first portion of the cathode 111 is exposed out through the hollow space 1130.
The cathode 111 is a conductive layer. A material of the cathode 111 can be pure metal, alloy, semiconductor, indium tin oxide, or conductive paste. In one embodiment, the material of the insulating substrate 110 is silicon, and the cathode 111 can be doped silicon. In one embodiment, the material of the cathode 111 is an aluminum film with 20 micrometers. The aluminum film can be deposited on the insulating substrate 110 via magnetron sputtering method.
A material of the electron injection layer 113 can be silicon, chromium. A thickness of the electron injection layer 113 can be greater than 10 micrometers. In one embodiment, the thickness of the electron injection layer 113 ranges from about 30 micrometers to about 60 micrometers.
The electron injection layer 113 can have an oblique sidewall around the hollow space 1130. The hollow space 1130 can be in a shape of inverted funnel and the size of hollow space 1130 is gradually narrowed along a direction away from the cathode 111. The electron emitter unit 114 can be received in hollow space 1130.
The insulating layer 116 located on a surface of the electron injection layer 113. The insulating layer 116 has two portions, a first portion of the insulating layer 116 is located between the electron injection layer 113 and the cathode 111, a second portion of the insulating layer 116 is located in the hollow space 1130 and on an inside surface of the electron injection layer 113. The insulating layer 116 can be resin, plastic, glass, ceramic, oxide, or their mixture. The oxide can be silica, aluminum oxide, or bismuth oxide. In one embodiment, the thickness of insulating layer 116 is about 100 micrometers. The material of the insulating layer 116 is a circular photoresist. In one embodiment, a secondary electron multiply material can be coated on a surface of the second portion of the insulating layer 116. The secondary electron multiply material can be magnesium oxide, beryllium oxide or diamond. The secondary electron multiply material can improve number of the electrons when the electrons emitted from the electron emitters 1140 hit the side wall of the hollow space 1130.
Referring to
The material of the electron emitters 1140 can be a carbon nanotube, carbon fiber, or silicon nanofiber. Each of the plurality of electron emitters 1140 includes a first end and a second end, opposite to the first end. The second end is adjacent and electrically connected to the cathode 111, and the first end extends toward the anode 112. The first end is configured to emit electrons as an electron emission terminal. The height of the plurality of electron emitter unit 114 is greater than the thickness of the insulating layer 116.
The electron emitter unit 114 is spaced from the sidewall of hollow space 1130. The electron emitter unit 114 defines an emitting surface that is away from the insulating substrate 110. The emitting surface of the electron emitter unit 114 can be parallel with the sidewall. In detail, a distance between each first end of the electron emitters 1140 and the sidewall of hollow space 1130 is substantially the same. Thus the plurality of first ends and the sidewall have substantially the same distances. The electron emitters 1140 can be carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, silicon nanowires or silicon tips. Referring to
Furthermore, an ion bombardment resistance material can be deposited on each of the plurality of electron emitters 1140. The ion bombardment resistance material can be zirconium carbide, hafnium carbide, or lanthanum hexaboride. The ion bombardment resistance material can protect the plurality of electron emitters 1140 from damage. Thus the lifespan of the electron emitters 1140 can be prolonged.
The electron emission unit 11 can further include a resistor layer (not shown). The resistor layer is sandwiched between the electron emitter unit 114 and the cathode 111. The electron emitter unit 114 is electrically connected to the cathode 111. The resistance of the resistor layer is greater than 10 GΩ to ensure that the cathode 111 can uniformly apply current to the electron emitter unit 114. The material of the resistor layer can be metallic alloy of nickel, copper, cobalt; the material of the resistor layer can also be metallic alloy, metallic oxide, inorganic composition doped with phosphorus.
The electron extraction grid 115 is used to leading the electrons emitter from the electron emitter unit 114. The electron extraction grid 115 is spaced from the electron injection layer 113 and cover the first opening of the hollow space 1130. While a voltage is applied on the electron extraction grid 115, the electrons can be extracted from the electron emitter unit 114.
The electron extraction grid 115 can be a carbon nanotube composite layer, a carbon nanotube layer, or a graphene layer. An electron transmittance rate of the graphene layer can reach to 98%. Referring to
The carbon nanotube layer 1154 can be a patterned carbon nanotube layer and defines the plurality of holes 1155. The holes 1155 can be dispersed uniformly. The holes 1155 extend throughout the carbon nanotube layer 1154 along the thickness direction thereof. The holes 1155 can be defined by several adjacent carbon nanotubes, or a gap defined by two substantially parallel carbon nanotubes and extending along the axial direction of the carbon nanotubes. The coating layer 1153 is coated on the plurality of carbon nanotubes in the carbon nanotube layer. After the coating layer formed, the size of the holes 1155 decreases to form the apertures 1152. The coating layer 1153 is used to protect the carbon nanotube layer 1154. A material of the coating layer 1153 can be silicon, silicon dioxide, silicon oxide, or aluminum oxide. A thickness of the coating layer 1153 ranges from 1 nanometer to 100 micrometers, particularly, it ranges from 5 nanometers to 100 nanometers.
The resonant unit 12 includes a resonant cavity frame 128, an insulating support 126, a first grid electrode 124, a second grid electrode 125, at least one outputting hole 123, a reflective room 122 and a reflective electrode 127. The resonant cavity frame 128 defines a resonant cavity 121. The resonant cavity frame 128 is located on and above the electron injection layer 113. The resonant cavity frame 128 defines a bottom opening (not labeled) and a top opening (not labeled). The first opening, the bottom opening, and the top opening are running through with each other. The bottom opening is located above the first opening. The bottom opening and the first opening are aligned with each other. The insulating support 126 is located around the bottom opening. The first grid electrode 124 is located above and parallel with the electron extraction grid 115. The first grid electrode 124 is supported by the insulating support 126 separated from the electron extraction grid 115.
A material of the resonant cavity frame 128 can be silicon or chromium. A width of the resonant cavity 121 can be in a range of 70 micrometers to 300 micrometers. An inside wall of the resonant cavity frame 128 is coated by metal, such as copper, aluminum, and other conductive material. In one embodiment, the resonant cavity frame 128 has a tube structure defines the resonant cavity 121. A diameter of the resonant cavity 121 is 300 micrometers, the output frequency.
The resonant cavity frame 128 includes a bottom wall and a top wall. The bottom wall is located on the electron extraction grid 115. The top wall is located above the bottom wall. The bottom opening is defined by the bottom wall. The top opening is defined by the top wall. The at least one outputting hole 123 is located in the top wall. The second grid electrode 125 covers the top opening. The electron extraction grid 115, the first grid electrode 124 and the second grid electrode 125 are arranged in that order and overlapped with each other.
The at least one outputting hole 123 is located around the top opening. In some embodiments, the at least one outputting hole includes a plurality of outputting holes arranged orderly, the plurality of outputting holes are arranged uniformly in a circle, and a center of the circle is a center of the top opening. In the embodiment, a number of the outputting hole 123 is four, and the four outputting holes 123 are arranged in symmetry.
The reflective room 122 includes a reflective electrode 127 located therein. The reflective electrode 127 is located above and faces the second grid electrode 125. The reflective room 122 covers the top opening and open to the top opening. When a voltage is applied on the reflective electrode 127, the reflective electrode 127 is used to reflect electrons passing through the second grid electrode 125. A voltage of the reflective electrode 127 is lower than a voltage of the second grid electrode 125. And, a speed of the electrons getting into the reflective room 122 is decreased by a retarding field between the reflective electrode 127 and the second grid electrode 125.
The output unit 14 includes a wave guide 140, an absorber 141 and a lens 142. The wave guide 140 defines a guide room, the absorber 141 is located on a surface of the wave guide 140 and in the guide room. The lens 142 is located at one end of the wave guide and covers an exit of the guide room.
In work of the terahertz reflex klystron 10a, the cathode 111, the electron extraction grid 115, the first grid electrode 124, the second grid electrode 125, the reflective electrode 127 are separately applied voltage. The electrons are emitted by the electron emitter unit 114 and extracted out the first opening by the electron extraction grid 115, and, pass through the first grid electrode 124. The electrons can be accelerated by the first grid electrode 124 and the second grid electrode 125 to form an electron beam with enough current density. The electron beam can pass through the first grid electrode 124, the resonant cavity 121, and the second grid electrode 125. Thus the electron beam will be modulated by a microwave field in the resonant cavity 121. After the electron beam passes through the second grid electrode 125, the electron beam will be reflected by the reflective electrode 127. All the electrons will be reflected by the retarding field in the reflective room 122. Thus the electron beam will be modulated on density in the retarding field and reflected to the resonant cavity 121. Therefore, the electrons will oscillate in the resonant cavity 121. After the electron beam is modulated on density, it will pass through the outputting hole 123 be transferred out into the guide room of the output unit 14. And, then the terahertz will be formed and output from the lens.
The terahertz reflex klystron 10a has following advantages. The at least one outputting hole 123 is located on the top wall of the resonant cavity frame 128, a width of the resonant cavity frame 128 can be small, and as such, the terahertz reflex klystron 10a can have a small size. Further, because the electron emitter structure has a shape of a cone, and the electron emitter in the central portion is highest. Thus the shielding effect can be reduced. In addition, the through hole of the electron extraction grid 115 is in the shape of inverted funnel. Thus the electrons can be focused by the through hole, and the current emission density can be improved.
Furthermore, the terahertz wave source 10 can include a moving controlling device (not shown) configured to allow the terahertz reflex klystron 10a to move or swing. Thus, the terahertz wave source 10 can scan the object 20.
The structure of the detector 18 is not limited and can be selected according to need. The detector 18 can be a photoconductivity switching, electro-optical crystal, bolometer, pyroelectric detector, thermal expansion detector, and frequency mixing and frequency difference detector.
Referring to
Referring to
The detecting system 1A is reflection-type. In use, the object 20 is located adjacent to the outputting surface of the terahertz wave source 10. The terahertz wave 15 is emitted from the terahertz wave source 10, reaches the object 20, reflected by the object 20, and received by the two detectors 18. The two detectors 18 obtain the data of the terahertz wave 15 and send the data to the controlling computer 19. The controlling computer 19 processes the data of the terahertz wave 15 to obtain a result and shows the result to the user.
In one embodiment, the two detectors 18 are located on opposite sides of the terahertz wave source 10. The angle between a receiving surface of the detector 18 and an outputting surface of the terahertz wave source 10 is defined as α. The angle α is greater than 90 degrees and less than 180 degrees. The angle α can be in a range from about 120 degrees to about 160 degrees. The two detectors 18 cane be located anywhere as long as the terahertz wave 15 reflected by the object 20 can be received by the two detectors 18.
Referring to
The plurality of first electrodes 16 are parallel with each other. The plurality of second electrode 17 are parallel with each other. The plurality of first electrodes 16 and the plurality of second electrode 17 are perpendicular with each other to form a grid structure. The grid structure includes a plurality of cells. Each cell is defined by adjacent first electrodes 16 and adjacent second electrode 17. Each terahertz reflex klystrons 10a is located in one of the plurality of cells and electrically connected to one of the plurality of first electrodes 16 and one of the plurality of second electrodes 17. The plurality of terahertz reflex klystrons 10a that are on the same row are connected to the same one of the plurality of first electrodes 16. The plurality of terahertz reflex klystrons 10a that are on the same column are connected to the same one of the plurality of second electrodes 17.
The detector based on terahertz wave has low cost and can be widely applied to security detecting, medical detecting or integrated circuit (IC) detecting.
It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are intended to illustrate rather than limit the disclosure. Any elements described in accordance with any embodiments is understood that they can be used in addition or substituted in other embodiments. Embodiments can also be used together. Variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the disclosure but do not restrict the scope of the disclosure.
Depending on the embodiment, certain of the steps of methods described may be removed, others may be added, and the sequence of steps may be altered. It is also to be understood that the description and the claims drawn to a method may include some indication in reference to certain steps. However, the indication used is only to be viewed for identification purposes and not as a suggestion as to an order for the steps.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
201610386012.1 | Jun 2016 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation application in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/183,175, Attorney Docket No. US57530, filed on Jun. 15, 2016, entitled “TERA HERTZ REFLEX KLYSTRON,” which claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from China Patent Application No. 201510525276.6, filed on Aug. 25, 2015 in the China Intellectual Property Office, disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This application also claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from China Patent Application No. 201610386012.1, filed on Jun. 3, 2016 in the China Intellectual Property Office, disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 15183175 | Jun 2016 | US |
Child | 15497940 | US |