THz stark spectroscopy (Conference Presentation)

Stark spectroscopy has been pioneered many decades ago and is a unique tool to extract information on molecular constants such as changes of dipole moments or polarizabilities upon excitation. Here we introduce a new twist, i.e. THz Stark spectroscopy. In THz fields the electric field vector oscillates on time scales of picoseconds and thus much faster than in conventional Stark spectroscopy. It therefore may allow to distinguish between different electric field contributions by analyzing the dynamics of the THz response. We first demonstrate that conventional THz sources can be boosted by combination with field enhancement structures, reaching field strength of GV/m driving several different materials into the nonlinear response regime. Then we discuss THz fields influencing charge transfer in different molecules.