Abstract

We present an efficiency scaling study of optical rectification in cryogenically cooled periodically poled lithium niobate for the generation of narrowband terahertz radiation using ultrashort pulses. The results show an efficiency and brilliance increase compared to previous schemes of up to 2 orders of magnitude by exploring the optimal pump pulse format at around 800 nm, and reveal saturation mechanisms limiting the conversion efficiency. We achieve $>{10}^{-3}$ energy conversion efficiencies, μJ-level energies, and bandwidths $<20\mathrm{GHz}$ at $\sim 0.5\mathrm{THz}$, thereby showing unprecedented spectral brightness in the 0.1–1 THz range relevant to terahertz science and technology.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

Narrowband terahertz generation with chirped-and-delayed laser pulses in periodically poled lithium niobate

Frederike Ahr, Spencer W. Jolly, Nicholas H. Matlis, Sergio Carbajo, Tobias Kroh, Koustuban Ravi, Damian N. Schimpf, Jan Schulte, Hideki Ishizuki, Takunori Taira, Andreas R. Maier, and Franz X. Kärtner
Opt. Lett. 42(11) 2118-2121 (2017)

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Opt. Express 31(3) 4041-4054 (2023)

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Opt. Lett. 47(10) 2374-2377 (2022)