THz Generation and Detection by Nonlinear Optical Methods

Sourabh Mukhopadhyay¹

1. Department of Physics, Jhargram Raj College (Govt. of West Bengal), Jhargram, INDIA.

Section:Review Paper, Product Type: Isroset-Journal
Vol.6 , Issue.2 , pp.10-20, Apr-2018

CrossRef-DOI:   https://doi.org/10.26438/ijsrpas/v6i2.1020

Online published on Apr 30, 2018

Copyright © Sourabh Mukhopadhyay . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

View this paper at   Google Scholar | DPI Digital Library

XML View     PDF Download

How to Cite this Paper

1166 Views    319 Downloads    194 Downloads

Abstract :
This article presents a comprehensive review on efficient THz generation by optical rectification and detection by electro-optic sampling. Starting with the basics of optical rectification and electro-optic field sensor, chronological development of the subject is presented. Performance of several zinc-blende crystals for THz generation as well as electro-optics sampling is discussed in detail and their comparative superiority relating to different crystals parameters are justified with experimental results. Organic crystals, due their higher nonlinearity, are important for THz generation by optical rectification and got special attention in this article. Phase-matching for THz generation by optical rectification is always a challenge and this issue is addressed with different schemes employed till date and optical rectification in tilted pulse front geometry is elaborated since it can dramatically increase the effective interaction length by achieving phase-matching. Material absorption in THz domain, which limits the THz generation efficiency, is however overcome by cryogenic cooling and performance of periodically poled lithium niobate under such low temperature for optical rectification in different schemes is presented in detail. The success in continuously increase of THz generation efficiency promises future high power THz devices for their application in basic science and technology. Recent propositions and theoretical models with predictions of orders of magnitude increase in the THz generation efficiency naturally pave the path with future challenges for the experimentalists. This article clearly figures out the directions of future research for THz generation by optical rectification and detection by electro-optic field sensor.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Optical rectification, Difference frequency generation, Phase-matching, Electro-optic sampling,

References :
[1] S. J. B. Baxter and G. W. Guglietta, “THz Spectroscopy”, Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 83, Issue 10, pp. 4342-4386, 2011.
[2] C. Ndebeka-Bandou, M. Rosch, K. Ohtani, M. Beck, and J. Faist, “Negative free carrier absorption in terahertz quantum cascade lasers”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 9, pp. 0911029(1-3), 2016.
[3] R. Ulbricht, E. Hendry, J. Shan, T. F. Heinz, M. Bonn, “Carrier dynamics in semiconductors studied with time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy”, Review of Modern Physics, Vol.83, Issue 2, pp. 543-586, 2011
[4] H. Hirori, K Tanaka, “Nonlinear Optical Phenomena Induced by Intense Single-Cycle Terahertz Pulses”, IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron., Vol. 19, Issue 1, pp. 8401110 (10), 2013
[5] D. Tsokkou, A. Othonos, and M. Zervos, “Carrier dynamics and conductivity of SnO2 nanowires investigated by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 100, Issue 13, pp. 133101(1-3), 2012
[6] T. Kampfrath, K.Tanaka and K. A. Nelson, “Resonant and nonresonant control over matter and light by intense terahertz transients”, Nature Photonics, Vol. 7 , Issue 9, pp. 680-690, 2013.
[7] F. Junginger, B. Mayer, C. Schmidt, O. Schubert, S. Mährlein, A. Leitenstorfer, R. Huber, and A. Pashkin, “Nonperturbative Interband Response of a Bulk InSb Semiconductor Driven Off Resonantly by Terahertz Electromagnetic Few-Cycle Pulses”, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 109, Issue 14, pp. 147403(1-5), 2012.
[8] B. Zaks, R. B. Liu, M.S. Sherwin, “Experimental observation of electron–hole re-collisions”, Nature, Vol. 483, Isse 7391, pp. 580-583, 2012.
[9] M. Tonouch, “Cutting-edge terahertz technology” , Nature Ptotonics, Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp. 97-105, 2007
[10] A. Redo-Sanchez, B. Heshmat, A. Aghasi, S. Naqvi, M. Zhang, J. Romberg and R. Raskar, “Terahertz time-gated spectral imaging for content extraction through layered structures”, Nature Communications., Vol. 7, Issue 12665, pp. 1-7, 2106.
[11] M. Jewariya, E. Abraham, T. Kitaguchi, Y. Ohgi, M. Minami, T. Araki and T. Yasui, “Fast three-dimensional terahertz computed tomography using real-time line projection of intense terahertz pulse” , Optics Express, Vol. 21, Issue 2, pp 2423-2433, 2013.
[12] P. C. Ashworth, E. Pickwell-MacPherson, E. Provenzano, S. E. Pinder, A. D. Purushotham, M. Pepper, and V. P. Wallace, “Terahertz pulsed spectroscopy of freshly excised human breast cancer,” Opt. Express, Vol. 17, Issue 15, pp. 12444-12454, 2009.
[13] L. V. Titova, A. K Ayesheshim, A. Golubov, D. Fogen, R. Rodriguez-Juarez, F.A. Hegmann, O. Kovalchuk, “Intense THz pulses cause H2AX phosphorylation and activate DNA damage response in human skin tissue”, Biomedical Optics Express, Vol. 4, Issue 4, pp. 559-568, 2013.
[14] E. A. Nanni, W. R. Huang, K. Hong, K. Ravi, A. Fallahi, G. Moriena, R. J. D. Miller and F. X. Ka¨rtner, THz accelerator, “Terahertz-driven linear electron acceleration”, Nature Commun., Vo. 6, Issue 8486, pp. 1-8, 2015.
[15] Z. D. Taylor, E. R. Brown, J. E. Bjarnason, M. P. Hanson, and A. C. Gossard, “Resonant-optical-cavity photoconductive switch with 0.5% conversion efficiency and 1.0W peak power”, Optics Letters, Vol. 31, Issue 11, pp. 1729–1731, 2006.
[16] Y. C. Shen, P. C. Upadhya, E. H. Linfield H. E. Beere, “Ultrabroadband terahertz radiation from low-temperature-grown GaAs photoconductive emitters”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 15, Issue 83, pp. 3117-3119, 2003.
[17] D. H. Auston, P. R. Smith, “Generation and Detection of Milimeter Waves by Picosecond Photoconductivity”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 7, pp. 631–633, 1983.
[18] H. Hamster, A. Sullivan, S. Gordon, W. White and R. W. Falcone, “Subpicosecond, electromagnetic pulses from intense laser-plasma interaction” Physical Review Letters, Vol. 71, Issue 17, pp. 2725-2728, 1993.
[19] K. Y. Kim, A. J. Taylor, J. H.Glownia and G. Rodriguez, “Coherent control of terahertz supercontinuum generation in ultrafast laser–gas interactions” Nature Photonics, Vol. 2, Issue 7, pp. 605–609, 2008.
[20] J. M. Dai, N. Karpowicz and X. Zhang, “Coherent Polarization Control of Terahertz Waves Generated from Two-Color Laser-Induced Gas Plasma”, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 2,pp. 023001(1-4), 2009
[21] S. V. Benson, D. R. Douglas, P. Evtushenko, F. E. Hannon, C. Hernandez-Garcia, J. M. Klopf, R. A. Legg, G. R. Neil, M. D. Shinn, C. D. Tennant, S. Zhang and G. P. Williams, “Photon Source Capabilities of the Jefferson Lab FEL”, Journal of Physics: Conf. Series, Vol. 425, Issue 7, pp 072002 (1-5), 2013.
[22] A. Nahata, A. S. Weling and T. F. Heinz, “A wideband coherent terahertz spectroscopy system using optical rectification and electro-optic sampling”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 69, Issue 16, pp. 2321-2323, 1996
[23] F. D. J. Brunner, A. Schneider, and P. Günter, “Velocity-matched terahertz generation by optical rectification in an organic nonlinear optical crystal using a Ti:sapphire laser, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 94, Issue 6, pp. 061119(1-3), 2009
[24] C. Winnewisser, P. U. Jepsen, M. Schall, V. Schyja, and H. Helm, “Electro-optic detection of THz radiation in LiTaO3, LiNbO3 and ZnTe”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 70, Issue 23, pp. 3069-3071, 1997.
[25] P. C. M. Planken, H. K. Nienhuys H. J. Bakker and T. Wenckebach, “Measurement and calculation of the orientation dependence of terahertz pulse detection in ZnTe”, Journal Optical. Society of America B, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 313-317. 2001.
[26] M. Bass, P. A. Franken, J. F Ward and G. Weinreich, “Optical rectification”, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 11, pp. 446-448, 1962.
[27] R. W. Boyd, Nonlinear Optics 2nd Ed., Academic Press, 2003.
[28] N. Bloembergen, Nonlinear Optics, (Bejamin, New York, 1965.
[29] V. G. Dmitriev, G. G. Gurzadyan and D. N. Kikogosyan, “Hand book of nonlinear optical crystals 3rd Ed”, Springer-Verlag, Germany, 1999.
[30] Q. Chen, M. Tani, Zhiping Jiang, and X.-C. Zhang, “Electro-optic transceivers for terahertz-wave applications”, Journal of Optical Society of America B, Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 823-831, 2001.
[31] P. C. M. Planken, H. K. Nienhuys and H. J. Bakker, T. Wenckebach, “Measurement and calculation of the orientation dependence of terahertz pulse detection in ZnTe”, Journal of Optical Society America B Vol. 18, Issue 3, , pp. 313-317, 2001.
[32] A. Rice,Y. Jin, X. F. Ma, X.-C. Zhang, D. Bliss, J. Larkin, and M. Alexander, “Terahertz optical rectification from <110> zinc-blende crystals”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 64, Issue 11, pp. 1324-1326, 1994.
[33] A. Bonvalet, M. Joffre, J. L. Martin and A. Migus, “Generation of ultrabroadband femtosecond pulses in the mid-infrared by optical rectification of 15 fs light pulses at 100 MHz repetition rate”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol.. 67, Issue 20, pp. 2907-2909, 1995.
[34] Q. Wu and X.-C. Zhang, “Ultrafast electro-optic field sensors”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 68, Isssue 12, pp. 1604-1606,1996.
[35] Q. Wu and X.-C. Zhang, “7 terahertz broadband GaP electro-optic sensor”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 70, Issue14, , pp. 1784-1786, 1997
[36] R. Huber, A. Brodschelm, F. Tauser, and A. Leitenstorfer, “Generation and field-resolved detection of femtosecond electromagnetic pulses tunable up to 41 THz”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 76, Issue 22 , pp. 3191-3193, 2000.
[37] C. Kübler, R. Hubera, S. Tübel and A. Leitenstorfer, “Ultrabroadband detection of multi-terahertz field transients with GaSe electro-optic sensors: Approaching the near infrared”, Applied Physics Letters Vol. 85, Issue 16, , pp. 3360-3362, 2004
[38] J. Ahn, A. V. Efimov, R. D. Averitt, and A. J. Taylor, “Terahertz waveform synthesis via optical rectification of shaped ultrafast laser pulses”, Optics Express, Vol. 11,Issue 20, pp. 2486-2496, 2003.
[39] M. Kreb, T. Loffler, M. D. Thomson, R. Dorner, H. Gimpel, K. Zrost, T. Ergler, R. Moshammer, U. Morgner, J. Ullrich and H. G. Roskos, “Determination of the carrier-envelope phase of few-cycle laser pulses with terahertz-emission spectroscopy”, Nature Physics, Vol. 2, Issue 5, pp. 327-331, 2006.
[40] Nick C. J. van der Valk and Paul C. M. Planken, Anton N. Buijserd and Huib J. Bakker, “Influence of pump wavelength and crystal length on the phase matching of optical rectification”, Journal of Optical Society of America B, Vol. 22, Issue 8, pp. 1714-1718, 2005.
[41] T.Kampfrath,J. Nötzold and M. Wolf, “Sampling of broadband terahertz pulses with thick electro-optic crystals”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 90, Issue 23, pp. 231113 (1-3), 2007
[42] G. Imeshev, M. E. Fermann, K. L. Vodopyanov, M. M. Fejer, X. Yu and J. S. Harris, D. Bliss and C. Lynch, “High-power source of THz radiation based on orientation-patterned GaAs pumped by a fiber”, Optics Express. Vol. 14, Issue 10, pp. 4439-4444, 2006.
[43] Y. S. H. Leea, W. C. Hurlbut, K. L. Vodopyanov, M. M. Fejer, V. G. Kozlov, “Generation of multicycle terahertz pulses via optical rectification in periodically inverted GaAs structures”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 89, Issue 18, pp. 181104 (1-3) ,2006.
[44] F. Blanchard, L. Razzari, H.-C. Bandulet, G. Sharma, R. Morandotti1, J.C. Kieffer, T. Ozaki, M. Reid, H. F. Tiedje, H. K. Haugen and F. A. Hegmann, “Generation of 1.5 μJ single-cycle terahertz pulses by optical rectification from a large aperture ZnTe crystal”, Opticss Express Vol. 15, Issue 20, pp. 13212-13220, 2007.
[45] J. A. Fülöp, L. Pálfalvi, S. Klingebiel, G. Almási, F. Krausz, S. Karsch, and J. Hebling, “Generation of sub-mJ terahertz pulses by optical rectification”, Optics Letters, Vol. 37, Issue 4, pp. 557-559, 2012.
[46] C. P. Hauri, C. Ruchert, C. Vicario and Fernando Ardana, “Strong-field single-cycle THz pulses generated in an organic crystal”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 16, pp. 161116 (1-3), 2011.
[47] C. Ruchert, C. Vicario, C. P. Hauri, “Scaling submillimeter single-cycle transients toward megavolts per centimeter field strength via optical rectification in the organic crystal OH1”, Optics Letters, Vol. 37, Issue 5, pp. 899-901, 2012.
[48] C. Ruchert, C. Vicario and C. P. Hauri, “Spatiotemporal Focusing Dynamics of Intense Supercontinuum THz Pulses”, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 110, Issue 12, pp. 123902 (1-5), 2013.
[49] C. Vicario, M. Jazbinsek, A. V. Ovchinnikov, O. V. Chefonov, S. I. Ashitkov, M. B. Agranat and C. P. Hauri, “High efficiency THz generation in DSTMS, DAST and OH1 pumped by Cr:forsterite laser”, Optics Express, Vol. 23, Isue 4, pp. 4573-4580, 2015.
[50] J. Heblingr, A.G. Stepanov, G. Almási, B. Barta, J. Kuhl, “Tunable THz pulse generation by optical rectification of ultrashort laser pulses with tilted pulse fronts”, Applied Physics B, . Phys. B, Vol. 78, Issue 5, pp. 593–599, 2004.
[51] J. Hebling, G. Almási and I. Z. Kozma, “Velocity matching by pulse front tilting for largearea THz-pulse generation”, Optics Express, Vol. 10, Issue 21, pp. 1161-1166, 2002.
[52] A. G. Stepanov, J. Hebling and J. Kuhl, “Efficient generation of subpicosecond terahertz radiation by phase-matched optical rectification using ultrashort laser pulses with tilted pulse fronts”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 83, Issue 15, pp. 3000-3002, 2003.
[53] K. L. Yeh, M. C. Hoffmann, J. Hebling and K. A. Nelson, “Generation of 10 μJ ultrashort terahertz pulses by optical rectification”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 90, Issue 17, pp. 171121 (1-3), 2007.
[54] A. G. Stepanov, L. Bonacina, S. V. Chekalin, and J. P. Wolf, “Generation of 30 μJ single-cycle terahertz pulses at 100 Hz repetition rate by optical rectification”, Optics Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 21, pp. 2497-2499, 2008.
[55] J. Hebling, K.L. Yeh, M. C. Hoffmann, B. Bartal and K. A. Nelson, “Generation of high-power terahertz pulses by tilted-pulse-front excitation and their application possibilities”, Journal of Optical Society of America B, Vol. 25, Issue 7, pp. B6-B19, 2008
[56] J. A. Fulp, L. Palfalvi, G. Almasi and J. Hebling, “Design of high-energy terahertz sources based on optical rectification”, Optics Express, Vol. 18, Issue 12, pp. 12311-12327, 2010.
[57] H. Hirori, A. Doi, F. Blanchard and K. Tanaka, “Single-cycle terahertz pulses with amplitudes exceeding 1 MV/cm generated by optical rectification in LiNbO3”, Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 98, Issue 9, pp. 091106 (1-3), 2011.
[58] K. Ravi, W. R. Huang, S. Carbajo, X. Wu and F. Kärtner, “Limitations to THz generation by optical rectification using tilted pulse fronts”, Optics Express”, Vol. 22, No. 17 , pp. 20239-2251, 2014.
[59] K. Ravi, W. R. Huang, S. Carbajo, E. A. Nanni, D. N. Schimpf, E. P. Ippen, and F. X. Kärtner, “Theory of terahertz generation by optical rectification using tilted-pulse-fronts”, Optics Express, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 5253-5276, 2015.
[60] S. W. Huang, E. Granados, W. R. Huang, K. H. Hong, L. E. Zapata and F. X. Kärtner, “High conversion efficiency, high energy terahertz pulses by optical rectification in cryogenically cooled lithium niobate”, Optics Letters, Vol. 38, Issue 5, pp.796-798, 2013.
[61] W. R. Huang, S. W. Huang, E. Granados,, K. Ravi, K. H. Hong, L. E. Zapata and F. X. Kärtner, “Highly efficient terahertz pulse generation by optical rectification in stoichiometric and cryo-cooled congruent lithium niobate”, Journal of Modern Optics, , Vol. 62 , Issue 18, pp. 1486-1493, 2015
[62] K. Ravi, M. Hemmer, G. Cirmi, F. Reichert, D. N. Schimpf, O. D. Mücke, and F. X. Kärtner, “Cascaded parametric amplification for highly efficient terahertz generation”, Optics Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 16, pp. 3806-3809, 2016.
[63] K. Ravi, D. N. Schimpf, and F. X. Kärtner, “Pulse sequences for efficient multi-cycle terahertz generation in periodically poled lithium niobate”, Vol. 24, Issue 22, pp. 25582-25607, 2016.