Unusual terahertz waveforms from a resonant medium controlled by diffractive optical elements

authored by
A. V. Pakhomov, R. M. Arkhipov, M. V. Arkhipov, Ayhan Demircan, Uwe Morgner, N. N. Rosanov, Ihar Babushkin
Abstract

Up to now, full tunability of waveforms was possible only in electronics, up to radio-frequencies. Here we propose a new concept of producing few-cycle terahertz (THz) pulses with widely tunable waveforms. It is based on control of the phase delay between different parts of the THz wavefront using linear diffractive optical elements. Suitable subcycle THz wavefronts can be generated via coherent excitation of nonlinear low-frequency oscillators by few-cycle optical pulses. Using this approach it is possible to shape the electric field rather than the slow pulse envelope, obtaining, for instance, rectangular or triangular waveforms in the THz range. The method is upscalable to the optical range if the attosecond pump pulses are used.

Organisation(s)
PhoenixD: Photonics, Optics, and Engineering - Innovation Across Disciplines
Institute of Quantum Optics
External Organisation(s)
Saint Petersburg State University
St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO)
RAS - Ioffe Physico Technical Institute
S.I. Vavilov State Optical Institute
Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy im Forschungsbund Berlin e.V. (MBI)
Type
Article
Journal
Scientific Reports
Volume
9
ISSN
2045-2322
Publication date
2019
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
General
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43852-w (Access: Open)