In this paper, we review the past and recent works on generating intense terahertz (THz) pulses from photoconductive antennas (PCAs). We will focus on two types of large-aperture photoconductive antenna (LAPCA) that can generate high-intensity THz pulses (a) those with large-aperture dipoles and (b) those with interdigitated electrodes. We will first describe the principles of THz generation from PCAs. The critical parameters for improving the peak intensity of THz radiation from LAPCAs are summarized. We will then describe the saturation and limitation process of LAPCAs along with the advantages and disadvantages of working with wide-bandgap semiconductor substrates. Then, we will explain the evolution of LAPCA with interdigitated electrodes, which allows one to reduce the photoconductive gap size, and thus obtain higher bias fields while applying lower voltages. We will also describe recent achievements in intense THz pulses generated by interdigitated LAPCAs based on wide-bandgap semiconductors driven by amplified lasers. Finally, we will discuss the future perspectives of THz pulse generation using LAPCAs.
Keywords: interdigitated large-aperture photoconductive emitters (ILAPCA); large-aperture photoconductive antenna (LAPCA); phase mask; sub-cycle intense terahertz (THz) pulses; ultrafast Ti:sapphire lasers; wide-bandgap semiconductors.
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