We discuss the performance of a micromachined, photoconductive terahertz emitter that is fabricated on low-temperature-grown GaAs. The device is mounted on a pair of single-mode optical fibers that allows the source to be freely positionable. A strong radiation burst is emitted due to the large magnetic moment created by the electrode. The emitter’s small feature size of 300 &mgr;m by 300 &mgr;m with a photoconductive switch area of 30 &mgr;m by 30 &mgr;m suggests its application for terahertz, time-domain, near-field spectroscopy and imaging. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.