Open AccessGeneration of broadband radially polarized terahertz radiation directly on a cylindrical metal wire
Author(s) -
Wenqi Zhu,
Amit Agrawal,
Hua Cao,
Ajay Nahata
Publication year - 2008
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.16.008433
Subject(s) - terahertz radiation , optics , optical rectification , materials science , broadband , plasmon , surface plasmon , optoelectronics , detector , bandwidth (computing) , nonlinear optics , pulse duration , optical power , laser , physics , telecommunications , computer science
We demonstrate the ability to directly generate broadband THz surface plasmons via optical rectification on a cylindrical metal wire. This is accomplished by milling a single circumferential groove into the wire and overcoating it with a poled polymer that exhibits a bulk second order susceptibility. An attractive feature of this approach is the potential to generate THz pulses that are limited in duration only by the duration of the optical pump pulse. While a photoconductive detector is used in the present demonstration, we discuss further refinements to the system that should allow for significant enhancement of the nonlinear optical conversion efficiency and detection bandwidth.