Open AccessTunable, high peak power terahertz radiation from optical rectification of a short modulated laser pulse
Author(s) -
Daniel Gordon,
A. Ting,
I. Alexeev,
R. P. Fischer,
P. Sprangle,
Christos A Kapetenakos,
A. Zigler
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.14.006813
Subject(s) - terahertz radiation , optics , materials science , optical rectification , laser , optoelectronics , picosecond , photomixing , far infrared laser , terahertz spectroscopy and technology , ti:sapphire laser , sapphire , nonlinear optics , physics , terahertz metamaterials
A new way of generating high peak power terahertz radiation using ultra-short pulse lasers is demonstrated. The optical pulse from a titanium:sapphire laser system is stretched and modulated using a spatial filtering technique to produce a several picosecond long pulse modulated at the terahertz frequency. A collinear type II phase matched interaction is realized via angle tuning in a gallium selenide crystal. Peak powers of at least 1.5 kW are produced in a 5 mm thick crystal, and tunability is demonstrated between 0.7 and 2.0 THz. Simulations predict that 150 kW of peak power can be produced in a 5 mm thick crystal. The technique also allows for control of the terahertz bandwidth.