IMEP-LAHC is the pioneer French laboratory in the field of THz optoelectronics as it was the first French laboratory that built in 1995 a time-domain THz spectroscopy setup. Research activities on this topic concern both the model of ultrafast photoswitches that constitute the most efficient emitting and receiving antennas and the conception, realization and characterization of novel devices. Time-domain THz spectroscopy is based on the optoelectronic conversion of femtosecond laser pulses in THz pulses by the suppression of the optical carrier. THz pulses present a associated spectrum that typically spreads from 50 GHz up to 5 THz, i. e. two decades!
The THz spectroscopy is of great interest for biological molecules identification for example, due to the unique THz spectral signature of the vibration soft modes of big molecules (an).
The THz spectroscopy is of great interest for biological molecules identification for example, due to the unique THz spectral signature of the vibration soft modes of big molecules (an).
Example of spectral signatures of structural isomers of the chlorocinamic acid
Some works are done also on numerous THz devices (waveguides, smart filters, diffraction arrays, polarizing elements, ...). 
The first book in French dedicated to the field of THz optoelectronic, written under the supervision of J.-L. Coutaz and edited by EDP Sciences under the title "Optélectronique THz" has been published in 2008.