THz generation using a reflective stair-step echelon

Abstract

We present a novel method for THz generation in lithium niobate using a reflective stair-step echelon structure. The echelon produces a discretely tilted pulse front with less angular dispersion compared to a high groove-density grating. The THz output was characterized using both a 1-lens and 3-lens imaging system to set the tilt angle at room and cryogenic temperatures. Using broadband 800 nm pulses with a pulse energy of 0.95 mJ and a pulse duration of 70 fs (24 nm FWHM bandwidth, 39 fs transform limited width), we produced THz pulses with field strengths as high as 500 kV/cm and pulse energies as high as 3.1 $\mu$J. The highest conversion efficiency we obtained was 0.33%. In addition, we find that the echelon is easily implemented into an experimental setup for quick alignment and optimization.

19 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Impact ionization in InSb probed by THz-pump THz-probe spectroscopy
• Limitations to THz generation by optical rectification using tilted pulse fronts
• Terahertz Generation in Lithium Niobate Driven by Ti:Sapphire Laser Pulses and its Limitations

Cited by in corpus (5)

• High Efficiency Terahertz Generation in a Multi-Stage System
• Single-cycle attosecond pulses by Thomson backscattering of terahertz pulses
• Generating compressed broadband terahertz pulses using aperiodically poled electro-optic crystals
• Terahertz generation by beamlet superposition
• Laser-driven few-cycle Terahertz sources with high average power