Broadband terahertz emission from two-color fs-laser-induced microplasmas

Abstract

We investigate terahertz emission from two-color fs-laser-induced microplasmas. Under strongest focusing conditions, microplasmas are shown to act as point-sources for broadband terahertz-to-far-infrared radiation, where the emission bandwidth is determined by the plasma density. Semi-analytical modeling allows us to identify scaling laws with respect to important laser parameters. In particular, we find that the optical-to-THz conversion efficiency crucially depends on the focusing conditions. We use this insight to demonstrate by means of Maxwell-consistent 3D simulations, that for only 10-$\mu$J laser energy a conversion efficiency well above $10^{-4}$ can be achieved.