An apparatus for analyzing, identifying or imaging an target including a source of pulsed signals in the range of frequencies from 100 GHz to over 2 THz focused on or transmitted through the target; and a detector for acquiring spectral information from signals reflected from the target and using a multi-spectral heterodyning process to generate an electrical signal representative of some characteristics of the target. The source of pulse signals and the detector are photoconductive switches activated by a pulsed laser beam from a single mode-locked laser.