Radiation hardness of ultrabroadband spintronic terahertz emitters: En-route to a space-qualified terahertz time-domain gas spectrometer

The radiation hardness of ultrabroadband spintronic terahertz emitters against gamma and proton irradiation is investigated. We find that irradiation doses equivalent to those experienced by a space instrument en-route to and operated on Mars have a minor effect on the performance of the emitters. In particular, the ultrawide emission spectrum ranging from 0.1-30 THz, which covers a large part of the vibrational fingerprint region, remains unchanged. These results make this emitter type highly interesting as an essential building block for broadband gas sensors based on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for future space missions.