Open AccessLong propagating velocity-controlled Einstein’s mirror for terahertz light conversion
Author(s) -
Michael Kurnikov,
Aliovokovskaya,
Evgeny Efimenko,
М. И. Бакунов
Publication year - 2020
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.405032
Subject(s) - optics , terahertz radiation , optical rectification , laser , femtosecond , femtosecond pulse shaping , physics , bandwidth limited pulse , pulse shaping , pulse (music) , ultrafast laser spectroscopy , materials science , ultrashort pulse , nonlinear optics , detector
We show that Einstein's relativistic mirror with long (hundreds of µm) propagation distance and controllable propagation velocity can be implemented in the form of a dense free carrier front generated by multiphoton absorption of tilted-pulse-front femtosecond laser pulses in a dielectric or semiconductor medium. The velocity control is achieved by varying the pulse front tilt angle. Simulations demonstrate that such fronts can serve as efficient Doppler-type converters of terahertz pulses. In particular, the pulse reflected from a front, generated by three-photon absorption of a Ti:sapphire laser in ZnS, can exhibit strong (up to more than an order of magnitude) pulse compression and spectrum broadening without a noticeable amplitude change. The proposed technique may be used to convert strong low-frequency terahertz pulses, generated by optical rectification of tilted-pulse-front laser pulses, to desirable temporal and spectral characteristics for a variety of applications.