Previous research shows that few-cycle laser (FCL) pulses with low energy and without a bias field can be used to coherently detect terahertz (THz) pulses. As we know, it is very difficult to stabilize the carrier envelope phase (CEP) of FCL pulses, i.e., there are some random fluctuations for the CEP. Here we theoretically investigate the influence of such instability on the accuracy of THz detection. Our results show that although there is an optimum CEP for THz detection, the fluctuations of the CEP will lead to terrible thorns on the detected THz waveform. In order to solve this problem, we propose an approach using two few-cycle laser pulses with opposite CEPs, i.e., their CEPs are differed by π.

We present a new compact radar system to measure a terahertz radar cross section (RCS) of metal plates, trihedral corner reflectors, and an aircraft scaled model with a 0.1 THz continuous wave. We both numerically and experimentally investigate the terahertz RCS of the metal plates and trihedral corner reflectors. The numerical simulations are obtained by using commercial software, i.e., computer simulation technology, which agree well with the experimental results. Then, the RCS of an aircraft scaled model is measured, and the experimental results are in good agreement with the physical characteristics of the scaled model. The effectiveness of our compact radar system is verified to get the RCS of complex targets, such as the scaled models of the tactical targets.