Photoconductiveswitcheswerethekeycomponentsthatallowedthegenerationanddetectionofcoherentbroadbandelectromagneticpulsesatterahertzfrequencies,openingthepossibilityforperformingspectroscopyand,therefore,measuringcomplexdielectricpropertiesofmaterialsinthisband,whichwasmostlyunexplored.Inthispaper,wepresentabriefintroductiontotheoperationprinciplesofthesedevices.Subsequently,wepresentareviewofthecurrentstate-of-the-artinthisfieldanddiscussthechallengestobefacedinfuturedevelopmentofthesedevices.
