Improved emission and coherent detection of few-cycle terahertz transients using laser pulses at 1.5 &#956;m

Arno Schneider; Marcel Stillhart; Zhou Yang; Fabian Brunner; Peter Günter

doi:10.1117/12.723739

8 May 2007 Improved emission and coherent detection of few-cycle terahertz transients using laser pulses at 1.5 μm

Arno Schneider, Marcel Stillhart, Zhou Yang, Fabian Brunner, Peter Günter

Proceedings Volume 6582, Nonlinear Optics and Applications II; 658211 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.723739
Event: International Congress on Optics and Optoelectronics, 2007, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

We present a comparative study of nonlinear optical materials for terahertz pulse generation by optical rectification and detection by electro-optic sampling, with the aim to find a material the is best suited for the use together with femtosecond lasers operating at a wavelength of 1.5 μm. Three crystals are identified that fulfill the condition that the optical group velocity matches the terahertz phase velocity: the organic salt DAST and the inorganic semiconductors GaAs and ZnTe, the latter showing velocity-matching with the second harmonic of 1.5 μm. A combined figure of merit for optical rectification and electro-optic sampling is derived. For the three materials under consideration, we find numerical values of 4300 (DAST):110 (GaAs):370 (ZnTe), in units of (pm/V)². We also present experimental evidence that the performance of DAST is an order of magnitude better than those of the inorganic semiconductors, and we present spectroscopic data in the terahertz range of DSMOS, a chemical derivative of DAST that may in the future also be used for terahertz applications.

Citation Download Citation

Arno Schneider, Marcel Stillhart, Zhou Yang, Fabian Brunner, and Peter Günter "Improved emission and coherent detection of few-cycle terahertz transients using laser pulses at 1.5 μm", Proc. SPIE 6582, Nonlinear Optics and Applications II, 658211 (8 May 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.723739

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