Optical properties of glasses and ceramics for Terahertz-technology

Summary form only given. The precise measurement of optical constants of dielectric materials at THz-frequencies is important in applied as well as basic physics. The rapidly growing applications of time-domain THz-spectroscopy require a precise knowledge of the optical constants of materials which are either used as highly transparent windows or strong absorbers for THz-radiation. Due to the lack of suitable broadband phase-sensitive measurement techniques in the past reliable data in the frequency range between 0.1 and 3 THz is sparse. In basic physics time-domain THz-transmission spectroscopy (TDTTS) has been identified as an important new technique because it covers the frequency range where the transition from vibrational to translational motion of mobile ions in glasses occurs. We report on the measurement of the optical constants of various commercial glasses (Robax, blue membrane glass, bor silica, quartz) and glass ceramics (Macor) at THz-frequencies by TDTTS.