1
|
Lei HY, Sun FZ, Wang TZ, Chen H, Wang D, Wei YY, Ma JL, Liao GQ, Li YT. Highly efficient generation of GV/m-level terahertz pulses from intense femtosecond laser-foil interactions. iScience 2022; 25:104336. [PMID: 35602940 PMCID: PMC9118729 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The terahertz radiation from ultraintense laser-produced plasmas has aroused increasing attention recently as a promising approach toward strong terahertz sources. Here, we present the highly efficient production of millijoule-level terahertz pulses, from the rear side of a metal foil irradiated by a 10-TW femtosecond laser pulse. By characterizing the terahertz and electron emission in combination with particle-in-cell simulations, the physical reasons behind the efficient terahertz generation are discussed. The resulting focused terahertz electric field strength reaches over 2 GV/m, which is justified by experiments on terahertz strong-field-driven nonlinearity in semiconductors. Ultraintense laser-foil interactions generate a 2.1-mJ strong terahertz pulse Nearly 1% generation efficiency originates from optimized laser-plasma conditions 2-GV/m high THz fields induce absorption bleaching and impact ionization
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hong-Yi Lei
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Fang-Zheng Sun
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Tian-Ze Wang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Hao Chen
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Dan Wang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yan-Yu Wei
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jing-Long Ma
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Guo-Qian Liao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.,Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan 523808, Guangdong, China
| | - Yu-Tong Li
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.,School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan 523808, Guangdong, China.,Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Mansourzadeh S, Vogel T, Shalaby M, Wulf F, Saraceno CJ. Milliwatt average power, MHz-repetition rate, broadband THz generation in organic crystal BNA with diamond substrate. OPTICS EXPRESS 2021; 29:38946-38957. [PMID: 34809267 DOI: 10.1364/oe.435344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 09/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate a 13.3 MHz repetition rate, broadband THz source with milliwatt- average power, obtained by collinear optical rectification of a high-power Yb-doped thin-disk laser in the organic crystal BNA (N-benzyl-2-methyl-4-nitroaniline). Our source reaches a maximum THz average power of 0.95 mW with an optical-to-THz efficiency of 4×10-4 and a spectral bandwidth spanning up to 6 THz at -50 dB, driven by 2.4 W average power (after an optical chopper with duty cycle of 10%), 85 fs-pulses. This high average power excitation was possible without damaging the crystal by using a diamond-heatsinked crystal with significantly improved thermal properties. To the best of our knowledge, this result represents the highest THz average power reported so far using the commercially available organic crystal BNA, showing the potential of these crystals for high average power, high repetition rate femtosecond excitation. The combination of high power, high dynamic range, high repetition rate and broadband spectrum makes the demonstrated THz source highly attractive to improve various time-domain spectroscopy applications. Furthermore, we present a first exploration of the thermal behavior of BNA in this excitation regime, showing that thermal effects are the main limitation in average power scaling in these crystals.
Collapse
|
3
|
Zaccardi ZB, Tangen IC, Valdivia-Berroeta GA, Bahr CB, Kenney KC, Rader C, Lutz MJ, Hunter BP, Michaelis DJ, Johnson JA. Enabling high-power, broadband THz generation with 800-nm pump wavelength. OPTICS EXPRESS 2021; 29:38084-38094. [PMID: 34808868 DOI: 10.1364/oe.437421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The organic terahertz (THz) generation crystal BNA has recently gained traction as a source for producing broadband THz pulses. When pumped with 100 fs pulses, the thin BNA crystals can produce relatively high electric fields with frequency components out to 5 THz. However, the THz output with 800-nm pump wavelength is limited by the damage threshold of the material, particularly when using a 1 kHz or higher repetition rate laser. Here, we report that the damage threshold of BNA THz generation crystals can be significantly improved by bonding BNA to a high-thermal conductivity sapphire window. When pumped with 800-nm light from an amplified Ti:sapphire laser system, this higher damage threshold enables generation of 2.5× higher electric field strengths compared to bare BNA crystals. We characterize the average damage threshold for bare BNA and BNA-sapphire, measure peak-to-peak electric field strengths and THz waveforms, and determine the nonlinear transmission in BNA. Pumping BNA bonded to sapphire with 3 mJ 800-nm pulses results in peak-to-peak electric fields exceeding 1 MV/cm, with broadband frequency components >3 THz. This high-field, broadband THz source is a promising alternative to tilted pulse front LiNbO3 THz sources, enabling many research groups without optical parametric amplifiers to perform high-field, broadband THz spectroscopy.
Collapse
|