Enabling high repetition rate nonlinear THz science with a kilowatt-class sub-100 fs laser source

Abstract

Manipulating the atomic and electronic structure of matter with strong terahertz (THz) fields while probing the response with ultrafast pulses at x-ray free electron lasers (FELs) has offered unique insights into a multitude of physical phenomena in solid state and atomic physics. Recent upgrades of x-ray FEL facilities are pushing to much higher repetition rates, enabling unprecedented signal to noise for pump probe experiments. This requires the development of suitable THz pump sources that are able to deliver intense pulses at compatible repetition rates. Here we present a high power laser-driven THz source based on optical rectification in LiNbO3 using tilted pulse front pumping. Our source is driven by a kilowatt-level Yb:YAG amplifier system operating at 100 kHz repetition rate and employing nonlinear spectral broadening and recompression to achieve sub-100 fs pulses at 1030 nm wavelength. We demonstrate a maximum of 144 mW average THz power (1.44 uJ pulse energy), consisting of single-cycle pulses centered at 0.6 THz with a peak electric field strength exceeding 150 kV/cm. These high field pulses open up a range of possibilities for nonlinear time-resolved experiments with x-ray probing at unprecedented rates.

arXiv comment17 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Terahertz-Field-Induced Ferroelectricity in Quantum Paraelectric SrTiO${}_3$
• Terahertz-Driven Phonon Upconversion in SrTiO3
• Single-cycle, MHz-repetition rate THz source with 66 mW of average power
• Full 3D+1 modelling of the tilted-pulse-front setups for single-cycle terahertz generation
• Femtosecond profiling of shaped X-ray pulses

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• Towards Intense Ultra-Broadband High Repetition Rate Terahertz Sources Based on Organic Crystals [Invited]
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• Average power scaling of THz spintronic emitters in reflection geometry
• Temporal quality of post-compressed pulses at large compression factors
• Single-cycle, 643-mW average power THz source based on tilted pulse front in lithium niobate
• 400 kHz repetition rate THz-TDS with 24 mW of average power driven by a compact industrial Yb-laser
• Photoconductive receivers at 1030 nm for high average power pulsed THz detection
• Performance analysis of table-top single-pulse terahertz detection up to 1.1 MHz
• Rotating spintronic terahertz emitter optimized for microjoule pump-pulse energies and megahertz repetition rates
• Ytterbium-laser-driven THz generation in thin lithium niobate at 1.9 kW average power in a passive enhancement cavity
• Laser-driven few-cycle Terahertz sources with high average power
• Milliwatt average power, MHz-repetition rate, broadband THz generation in organic crystal BNA with diamond substrate