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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Characterizing Far-infrared Laser Emissions and the Measurement of Their Frequencies
Published on: December 18, 2015
Noise tube sources for the far IR and millimeter region
Abstract:
The radiant output of a noise tube (C. P. Clare Model TN-167), designed for the 90-140-GHz (3.3-2.1-mm) frequency range, has been compared with that from mercury lamps over the wavelength region from 0.4 to ~6 mm. Lamellar grating and Michelson Fourier transform spectrometers were used in conjunction with He cooled bolometers of NEP from 10(-12) to 10(-14) W/(H(2))(1/2) to measure relative spectral irradiance. With this instrumental arrangement, the radiant power emitted by the noise tube was observed to be less than that from a mercury lamp, at least to a 3-mm wavelength, but it produced less source noise than an ac operated mercury lamp. When the noise tube operating current was reduced, the spectral irradiance peak shifted to longer wavelengths.
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