Thermally stimulated 3–15 THz emission at plasmon-phonon frequencies in polar semiconductors

The possibilities of distinguishing highly coherent terahertz emission at a specified frequency from the incoherent thermal emission of a hot body are considered. It is experimentally shown that the smooth planar surface (with no diffraction guides) of heated GaAs and AlGaAs wafers emits directed continuous-wave (cw) terahertz radiation at coupled surface plasmon-phonon vibrational frequencies. The recording of terahertz reflectance spectra is demonstrated as a method for the identification of plasmons, optical phonons, and coupled plasmon-phonon vibrations in semiconductors.