High-field THz source centered at 2.6 THz

Abstract

We demonstrate a table-top high-field terahertz (THz) source based on optical rectification of a collimated near-infrared pulse in gallium phosphide (GaP) to produce peak fields exceeding 300 kV/cm with a spectrum centered at 2.6 THz. The experimental configuration, based on tilted-pulse-front phase matching, is implemented with a phase grating etched directly onto the front surface of the GaP crystal. Although the THz generation efficiency starts showing a saturation onset as the near-infrared pulse energy reaches 0.57 mJ, we can expect our configuration to yield THz peak fields up to 866 kV/cm when a 5 mJ generation NIR pulse is used. This work paves the way towards broadband, high-field THz sources able to access a new class of THz coherent control and nonlinear phenomena driven at frequencies above 2 THz.

8 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Terahertz-Field-Induced Ferroelectricity in Quantum Paraelectric SrTiO${}_3$
• Temporal and spectral fingerprints of ultrafast all-coherent spin switching
• Gas-plasma based generation of broadband THz radiation with 640 mW average power
• Enabling High-Power, Broadband THz Generation with 800-nm Pump Wavelength
• Fiber laser-driven gas plasma-based generation of THz radiation with 50-mW average power