The subject of the thesis focused on the development, characterization and use of semiconductor materials, in which the free carriers have a very short lifetime (picosecond or sub-picosecond) to produce photoconductive antennas emitting and detecting electromagnetic terahertz (THz) radiation. Unlike semiconductor LTG-GaAs (low temperature grown GaAs) which is a well-dominated technology and present exceptional performances when photoexcited by typically less than 0.8 micron wavelength laser pulses, the work focused on here materials for the use of lasers whose wavelengths are those of the optical communication, namely around 1.5 microns. The interest is to benefit from the mature technology of these lasers, and relatively low cost components for optical telecommunications. To achieve effective and efficient THz antennas, the semiconductor material must have several qualities : lifetime of free carriers very short, high carrier mobility, high resistivity outside lighting, and good crystallographic structure to prevent electrical breakdown. For a short lifetime, a large number of traps are introduced into the semiconductor, which effectively capture the free electrons. For InGaAs materials used at 1.5 microns, the problem is that the energy level of the traps, for example, the epitaxial material at low temperature is very close to the conduction band of the semiconductor. This is equivalent to an n-doped material, what greatly reduces its resistivity outside illumination. Several solutions have been made by different laboratories : compensation for the p-doped epitaxial materials at low temperature, ion bombardment, ion implantation, or even alternating layer structures where photo-generation and recombination of free carriers occur in different places. The aim of the thesis was to produce materials prepared using these techniques to characterize and compare their performance to THz optoelectronics. The studied InGaAs-based semiconductors were as previously published by the competition, the originality of the thesis was on the comparison of these different materials and if possible their optimization. During this work, many of InGaAs layers were grown epitaxially by varying the deposition parameters, and THz antennas were fabricated. The layers were characterized from the crystallographic point of view, as well as the DC electrical conductivity (measures 4 points, Hall mobility ... ), the optical absorption properties (visible and IR spectroscopy ), the lifetime of carriers by optical pump-probe measurement. For low temperature epitaxial layers, the influences of thermal and doping beryllium annealing were studied. In the case of shelled or implanted layers, several ions were used, bromine, iron and hydrogen. The relationship between the mapping of structural defects of the implanted ions and electrical and carrier dynamics properties were discussed in detail. These studies allow us to understand the type of defects that trap carriers in these materials, as well as training in the process of manufacturing and processing layers. Finally the best layers are made comparable to those published elsewhere performance. The last study allowed to achieve the first signals of THz radiation generated by InGaAs-based optimized antenna.
