By tailoring the boundary of a narrow semiconductor channel to break its symmetry, we have realized a type of nanometer-scale nonlinear device, which we refer to as self-switching device (SSD). An applied voltage $V$ not only changes the potential profile along the channel direction, but also either widens or narrows the effective channel depending on the sign of $\mathrm{V.}$ This results in a diode-like characteristic but without the use of any doping junction or barrier structure. The turn-on voltage can also be widely tuned from virtually zero to more than 10 V, by simply adjusting the channel width. The planar and two-terminal structure of the SSD also allows SSD-based circuits to be realized by only one step of lithography.

We have studied terahertz emission from interdigitated finger photomixers coupled to planar antenna structures. Using both pulsed and continuous-wave excitation, polarization measurements reveal that the antenna design dominates the properties of the radiated output at frequencies below 0.6 THz, while the efficiency at higher frequencies is additionally dependent on the design of the photomixer fingers. We have produced terahertz maps of the device, characterizing the photomixer by measuring the generated power as a function of the excitation position. Together, these measurements have allowed us to understand better the distinct roles of the photomixer and antenna in emission at different frequencies and, hence, independently optimize these components.

We demonstrate the critical effect of postgrowth annealing temperature on the properties of low-temperature-grown GaAs. By using annealing temperatures substantially below the 500–600 °C commonly reported, GaAs with high resistivity and with carrier lifetimes as short as 100 fs can be routinely obtained. We discuss the optimum, but different, anneal conditions required for terahertz photoconductive emitters and detectors, and illustrate their use in a continuous-wave system.

We have developed a high-performance continuous-wave terahertz imaging system based on photomixing. The emitter and detector are driven by compact, unstabilized, single-mode diode lasers. The all-optoelectronic, homodyne detection scheme yields both amplitude and phase information, and with careful optimization and matching of both emitter and receiver, a 60 dB dynamic range, at 0.53 THz, can be routinely achieved. This replicates the performance of established pulsed THz imagers at this frequency.

We describe probes of a local electric field, which are capable of detecting an electric charge as small as the charge of one electron $e$ , operational under ambient conditions and having a spatial resolution down to $100\mathrm{nm}$ . The submicron-sized probes were made from a high-density high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas, which is sensitive to the presence of electric charges near its surface. We demonstrate the possibility of using such microprobes for life-science applications by measuring an electric response of individual yeast cells to abrupt changes in their environment.