Electro-optic detection of THz radiation in LiTaO3, LiNbO3 and ZnTe

Abstract

Freely propagating THz pulses are detected in electro-optic (eo) crystals by monitoring the phase retardation (PR) of an infrared femtosecond probe pulse. This technique permits the determination of the temporal shape of the THz pulse in the subpicosecond time domain. We present measurements in LiTaO3, LiNbO3, and ZnTe and compare their signal performance as eo crystals with theoretical calculations for the PR signal. ZnTe shows the best performance for eo detection.

Nitrogen plasma formation through terahertz-induced ultrafast electron field emission

“…Two wire grid polarizers W1 and W2 attenuate the THz beam without changing its linear polarization. The THz radiation has been characterized using electro-optic sampling [17][18][19] in a 300-μm-thick gallium phosphide (GaP) 110-cut crystal. At the sample position, THz peak electric fields of up to 200 kV/cm are obtained, with field strengths calibrated using combined information from free-space electro-optic sampling, pulse energy measurement, and spot size measurement [20].…”

Observation of the field-free orientation of a symmetric-top molecule by terahertz laser pulses at high temperature

“…The transmitted THz radiation is collected from the sample by another off-axis parabolic mirror and sent to the detection device. This latter is based on an electro-optical sampling of the THz pulse shape in the time domain [67,68,69,70]. The weak probe beam (typically ≈ 5 nJ) derived from the output of the CPA is focused and spatially overlapped with the THz radiation in a ZnTe (110) crystal.…”

Distinguishing Gasoline Engine Oils of Different Viscosities Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

“…This technique relies on photoconductive antennas which are gated by ultrashort laser pulses [39][40][41][42]. Alternatively, nonlinear crystals can be used [43]. Using this scheme many substances haven been characterized.…”