Open AccessGeneration, tuning, and shaping of narrow-band, picosecond THz pulses by two-beam excitation
Author(s) -
А. Л. Степанов,
J. Hebling,
J. Kühl
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/opex.12.004650
Subject(s) - optics , grating , terahertz radiation , femtosecond , picosecond , materials science , laser , polarization (electrochemistry) , pulse duration , pulse shaping , waveform , excitation , optoelectronics , physics , voltage , quantum mechanics , chemistry
We demonstrate the use of a transient polarization grating induced by two femtosecond laser pulses propagating in a LiNbO3 crystal for the generation of frequency tunable, narrow-band, picosecond THz pulses. Employing pump pulses with 150 fs duration and 2 J energy, the generated THz pulse has an energy up to 1.8 pJ, a pulse duration of 3 - 5 ps and a bandwidth of 0.1 THz. The central frequency can be tuned in the range from 0.5 to 3 THz. The generation efficiency of the transient grating method in comparison to other techniques is discussed. The possibility of shaping the temporal waveform of the THz pulses by simply shaping the spatial intensity distribution of the pump pulses is demonstrated.