Using time-resolved THz spectroscopy to study carrier dynamics and solar energy conversion in nanostructured materials

Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy has emerged over the last two decades as a versatile probe of a large variety of materials and processes. Because the transient THz electric field rather than its power is measured, frequency-dependent material properties such as absorption coefficient, refractive index, and complex conductivity in the far-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum are determined in a very straightforward manner. Optical-pump THz-probe studies characterize the photo-induced response of a material with sub-picosecond temporal resolution. One of the most important applications of time-resolved THz spectroscopy (TRTS) has been to probe transient photoconductivity and carrier dynamics in a variety of nanomaterials of interest in renewable energy research.