title: Tunable, high peak power terahertz radiation from optical rectification of a short modulated laser pulse.
abstract: A new way of generating high peak power terahertz radiation using ultra-short pulse lasers is demonstrated. The optical pulse from a titanium:sapphire laser system is stretched and modulated using a spatial filtering technique to produce a several picosecond long pulse modulated at the terahertz frequency. A collinear type II phase matched interaction is realized via angle tuning in a gallium selenide crystal. Peak powers of at least 1.5 kW are produced in a 5 mm thick crystal, and tunability is demonstrated between 0.7 and 2.0 THz. Simulations predict that 150 kW of peak power can be produced in a 5 mm thick crystal. The technique also allows for control of the terahertz bandwidth.
authors.forename: Daniel F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alexeev
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sprangle
authors.forename: Christos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kapetenakos
authors.forename: Arie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zigler