Generation of terahertz waves by a current in magnetic junctions

The terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum (approximately 0.3-30 THz) is still insufficiently mastered primarily because of the absence of compact and controllable emitters (oscillators) and receivers (detectors) reliably operating in this range in a wide temperature range, including room temperature. The corresponding recent studies in this field, which were supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, have been reviewed. New physical effects have been proposed and principles of the operation of terahertz devices based on these effects have been implemented. These effects refer to the physics of ferromagnetic and/or antiferromagnetic conducting layers assembled in micro- and nanostructures, which are called magnetic junctions. These effects are as follows: the formation of a quasiequilibrium distribution of current-injected electrons over the energy levels and the possibility of inverted population of levels, induction of the macroscopic magnetization by a spin-polarized current in an antiferromagnetic layer in the absence of external magnetic field, the appearance of current-induced contribution to antiferromagnetic resonance, and the experimental observation and study of the properties of terahertz radiation in ferromagnet-ferromagnet and ferromagnet-antiferromagnet junctions.