Low-cost THz heterodyne detection by miniature neon indicator lamp glow discharge detector

Terahertz (THz) radiation or millimeter wavelength detection and imaging don't have to be expensive. A miniature neon indicator lamp costing about 50 cents acting as a Glow Discharge Detector (GDD) is excellent as a low cost THz detector, but not as the most sensitive detector on the market. Experimental results show that a GDD can work as heterodyne detector, which improves the sensitivity. The experimental results show that sensitivity of heterodyne detection is improved by two orders of magnitude as compared to direct detection. We show here a proof of concept at low frequencies. In this work we compare the performance of GDDs in direct detection to the performance of GDDs in heterodyne detection at 10 GHz and at 300GHz with a low power source.

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