Terahertz waveform synthesis via optical pulse shaping

We describe the principles of free-space terahertz waveform synthesis by using a programmable optical pulse shaper to drive a photoconducting dipole antenna. We illustrate this technique using several experimental examples, including manipulation of the amplitude and the phase of ultrafast terahertz waveforms as well as generation of ultrafast bit sequences at terahertz frequencies. We present a theory which accurately predicts the shapes of the terahertz waveforms produced in our experiments. In addition to the controllability of terahertz radiation, we have shown that optical pulse shaping can be used to avoid saturation of the terahertz field at high-peak power and increase generation efficiencies for terahertz radiations at selected, narrow-band frequencies.

[1]  P. Bucksbaum,et al.  Interferometric characterization of 160 fs far-infrared light pulses , 1991 .

[2]  Kurz,et al.  Coherent submillimeter-wave emission from Bloch oscillations in a semiconductor superlattice. , 1993, Physical review letters.

[3]  Shenghua Shi,et al.  Optimal control of selective vibrational excitation of harmonic molecules: Analytic solution and restricted forms for the optimal fields , 1990 .

[4]  G. Wiederrecht,et al.  Femtosecond multiple-pulse impulsive stimulated Raman scattering spectroscopy , 1991 .

[5]  Arnold Migus,et al.  Generation of ultrabroadband femtosecond pulses in the mid‐infrared by optical rectification of 15 fs light pulses at 100 MHz repetition rate , 1995 .

[6]  A. Weiner,et al.  Generation of terahertz-rate trains of femtosecond pulses by phase-only filtering. , 1990, Optics Letters.

[7]  rensen,et al.  Ultrafast local field dynamics in photoconductive THz antennas , 1993 .

[8]  B. Hu,et al.  Subpicosecond electromagnetic pulses from large-aperture photoconducting antennas. , 1990, Optics letters.

[9]  Xiang Zhang,et al.  Saturation properties of large-aperture photoconducting antennas , 1991 .

[10]  K. Nelson.  Coherent Control: Optics, Molecules, and Materials , 1994 .

[11]  Andrew M. Weiner,et al.  High-resolution femtosecond pulse shaping , 1988 .

[12]  L. Pfeiffer,et al.  Coherent control of terahertz emission and carrier populations in semiconductor heterostructures , 1994 .

[13]  G. Wiederrecht,et al.  Femtosecond Pulse Sequences Used for Optical Manipulation of Molecular Motion , 1990, Science.

[14]  K. Nelson,et al.  Generation of high-fidelity programmable ultrafast optical waveforms. , 1995, Optics letters.

[15]  Andrew M. Weiner,et al.  Repetitive excitation of charge oscillations in semiconductor heterostructures , 1993 .

[16]  X. Zhang,et al.  Ultrafast electro-optic field sensors , 1996 .

[17]  M. Nuss,et al.  Imaging with terahertz waves. , 1995, Optics letters.

[18]  June-Koo Kevin Rhee,et al.  Transient carrier and field dynamics in quantum-well parallel transport: From the ballistic to the quasi-equilibrium regime , 1992 .

[19]  Gerard Mourou,et al.  Picosecond microwave pulses generated with a subpicosecond laser-driven semiconductor switch , 1981 .

[20]  S. G. Park,et al.  Enhancement of narrow-band terahertz radiation from photoconducting antennas by optical pulse shaping. , 1996, Optics letters.

[21]  A. Taylor,et al.  Scaling of terahertz radiation from large-aperture biased InP photoconductors. , 1993, Optics letters.

[22]  D. Grischkowsky,et al.  Far-infrared time-domain spectroscopy with terahertz beams of dielectrics and semiconductors , 1990 .

[23]  Feng Gao,et al.  Terahertz bandwidth pulses for coherent time-domain spectroscopy , 1994, Photonics West - Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering.

[24]  Daniel R. Grischkowsky,et al.  Characterization of an optoelectronic terahertz beam system , 1990 .

[25]  Stefan Schmitt-Rink,et al.  Far-infrared light generation at semiconductor surfaces and its spectroscopic applications , 1992 .

[26]  H. Roskos,et al.  Terahertz electromagnetic radiation from quantum wells , 1994 .

[27]  Xiang Zhang,et al.  Time-division multiplexing by a photoconducting antenna array , 1991 .

[28]  Richard Alan Cheville,et al.  Time domain terahertz impulse ranging studies , 1995 .

[29]  Xiang Zhang,et al.  Terahertz beam generation by femtosecond optical pulses in electro‐optic materials , 1992 .

[30]  P. Bucksbaum,et al.  Generation of high-power sub-single-cycle 500-fs electromagnetic pulses. , 1993, Optics letters.

[31]  Andrew M. Weiner,et al.  Shaping of femtosecond pulses using phase-only filters designed by simulated annealing , 1992 .

[32]  Gerard Mourou,et al.  Subpicosecond carrier lifetime in GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy at low temperatures , 1991 .

[33]  N. M. Froberg,et al.  Generation of tunable narrow‐band THz radiation from large aperture photoconducting antennas , 1994 .

[34]  M. Nuss,et al.  Subpicosecond photoconducting dipole antennas , 1988 .

[35]  Xiang Zhang,et al.  Generation of femtosecond electromagnetic pulses from semiconductor surfaces , 1990 .

[36]  Luo,et al.  Coherent control of terahertz charge oscillations in a coupled quantum well using phase-locked optical pulses. , 1993, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[37]  Andrew M. Weiner,et al.  Femtosecond optical pulse shaping and processing , 1995 .

[38]  Xiang Zhang,et al.  Optically steerable photoconducting antennas , 1990 .

[39]  J. A. Valdmanis,et al.  Chapter 4 Electro-Optic Measurement Techniques for Picosecond Materials, Devices, and Integrated Circuits , 1990 .

[40]  Andrew M. Weiner,et al.  Programmable shaping of femtosecond optical pulses by use of 128-element liquid crystal phase modulator , 1992 .

[41]  Xiang Zhang,et al.  Generation of steerable submillimeter waves from semiconductor surfaces by spatial light modulators , 1991 .