Efficient generation of a high-field terahertz pulse train in bulk lithium niobate crystals by optical rectification

Sub-terahertz nearfields for electron-pulse compression

The advent of ultrafast science with pulsed electron beams raised the need to control the temporal features of the electron pulses. One promising suggestion is the nano-selective quantum optics with multi-electrons, which scales quadratically with the number of electrons within the coherence time of the quantum system. Terahertz (THz) radiation from optical nonlinear crystals is an attractive methodology to generate the rapidly varying electric fields necessary for electron compression, with the advantage of an inherent temporal locking to laser-triggered electrons, such as in ultrafast electron microscopes. Longer (picosecond-) pulses require a sub-THz field for their compression. However, the generation of such low frequencies requires pumping with energetic optical pulses and their focusability is fundamentally limited by their mm-wavelength. This work proposes electron-pulse compression with sub-THz fields directly in the vicinity of their dipolar origin, thereby avoiding mediation through radiation. We analyze the merits of nearfields for compression of slow electrons, particularly in challenging regimes for THz radiation, such as small numerical apertures, micro-joule-level optical pump pulses, and low frequencies. This scheme can be implemented within the tight constraints of electron microscopes and reach fields of a few kV/cm below 0.1 THz at high repetition rates. Our paradigm offers a realistic approach for controlling electron pulses spatially and temporally in many experiments, opening the path of flexible multi-electron manipulation for analytic and quantum sciences.

Sub-picosecond tunable mid-infrared light source for driving high-efficiency optical rectification

Optical rectification (OR) is a popular way to generate coherent terahertz radiation. Here, we develop a sub-picosecond mid-infrared (mid-IR) light source with a tailored wavelength and pulse duration for enhancing the OR efficiency. Numerical simulations for a LiNbO3-based OR with tilted pulse-front excitation are first conducted to determine the optimal parameters of pump wavelength and pulse duration, demonstrating that the OR efficiency pumped by 4-µm sub-picosecond (0.5-0.6 ps) pulses is approximately twice the value with 0.8-µm pump at the same conditions. Guided by the simulation results, we build a BaGa4Se7-based optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification system with 1030-nm thin-disk pump and broadband mid-IR seeds. The output performances of >200-µJ pulse energy, ∼600-fs pulse duration and 1-kHz pulse repetition rate are achieved in a spectral range tunable from 3.5 to 5 µm. The large energy scalability and high parameter tunability make the light source attractive to high-efficiency OR in various materials.

Optimized terahertz pulse generation with chirped pump pulses from an echelon-based tilted-pulse-front (TPF) scheme

We successfully demonstrated the generation of single-cycle terahertz (THz) pulses through tilted-pulse-front (TPF) pumping using a reflective echelon in a lithium niobate crystal. By optimizing the pump pulse duration using a chirp, we achieved a maximum pump-to-THz conversion efficiency of 0.39%. However, we observed that the saturation behavior began at a relatively low pump energy (0.37 mJ), corresponding to a pump intensity of 22 GW/cm2. To elucidate this behavior, we measured the near- and far-field THz beam profiles and found variations in their beam characteristics, such as the beam size, location, and divergence angle in the plane of the tilted pulse direction, with the pump energy (intensity). This nonlinear behavior is attributed to the reduced effective interaction length, which ultimately leads to the saturation of THz generation. The results obtained from our study suggest that it is feasible to develop an effective THz source using echelon-based TPF pumping while also considering the impact of nonlinear saturation effects.

Amplification of a terahertz wave via stimulated Raman scattering

Extremely strong terahertz (THz) waves are desperately demanded for investigating nonlinear physics, spectroscopy, and imaging in the THz range. However, traditional crystal-/semiconductor-based THz sources have limitations of reaching extremely high amplitude due to the damage threshold of devices. Here, by introducing Raman amplification to the THz range, we propose a novel, to the best of our knowledge, scheme to amplify THz waves in plasma. A long-pulse CO₂ pump laser transfers its energy to a multicycle, 10-THz seed in a two-step plasma. By one-dimensional simulations, a 0.87-GV/m, 1.2-ps-duration THz seed is amplified to 10 GV/m in a 5.7-mm-long plasma with an amplification efficiency approaching 1%. The method provides a new technology to manipulate the intensity of THz waves.

Lithium niobate photonics: Unlocking the electromagnetic spectrum

Lithium niobate (LN), first synthesized 70 years ago, has been widely used in diverse applications ranging from communications to quantum optics. These high-volume commercial applications have provided the economic means to establish a mature manufacturing and processing industry for high-quality LN crystals and wafers. Breakthrough science demonstrations to commercial products have been achieved owing to the ability of LN to generate and manipulate electromagnetic waves across a broad spectrum, from microwave to ultraviolet frequencies. Here, we provide a high-level Review of the history of LN as an optical material, its different photonic platforms, engineering concepts, spectral coverage, and essential applications before providing an outlook for the future of LN.

Efficient multicycle terahertz pulse generation based on the tilted pulse-front technique

Controlling the time-domain oscillation of a terahertz (THz) wave offers promising capabilities for THz-based all-optical particle acceleration and strong-field THz nonlinear physics. However, the lack of highly efficient and frequency-modulable multicycle THz sources is impeding the spread of strong-field THz science and applications. Here, we show that by simply adding an echelon into a single-cycle THz source based on optical rectification in lithium niobate crystals via the tilted pulse-front technique, multicycle THz pulses can be efficiently generated with an 800 nm-to-THz efficiency of 0.1% at room temperature. The radiated THz properties can be engineered by precisely designing the echelon structure. Our proposed multicycle THz generation method has the advantages of high efficiency, ease of operation, and quick switching between single-cycle and multicycle working modes, all of which are important in the application of high-field THz radiation.

Terahertz generation from ZnTe optically pumped above and below the bandgap

We report on the generation of THz waves through optical rectification in ZnTe of femtosecond laser pulses whose photon energy is tuned from below to above the ZnTe bandgap energy. The THz signal exhibits a pronounced peak at the bandgap energy, at THz frequencies for which losses in ZnTe remain small. This peak is likely due to the resonance of the ZnTe nonlinear susceptibility in the vicinity of the bandgap.