Extreme nonlinear terahertz electro-optics in diamond for ultrafast pulse switching
At a Glance
Section titled âAt a Glanceâ| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2017-03-01 |
| Journal | APL Photonics |
| Authors | Mostafa Shalaby, C. Vicario, C. P. Hauri |
| Institutions | Paul Scherrer Institute, Ăcole Polytechnique FĂ©dĂ©rale de Lausanne |
| Citations | 36 |
Abstract
Section titled âAbstractâPolarization switching of picosecond laser pulses is a fundamental concept in signal processing [C. Chen and G. Liu, Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci. 16, 203 (1986); V. R. Almeida et al., Nature 431, 1081 (2004); and A. A. P. Pohl et al., Photonics Sens. 3, 1 (2013)]. Conventional switching devices rely on the electro-optical Pockels effect and work at radio frequencies. The ensuing gating time of several nanoseconds is a bottleneck for faster switches which is set by the performance of state-of-the-art high-voltage electronics. Here we show that by substituting the electric field of several kV/cm provided by modern electronics by the MV/cm field of a single-cycle THz laser pulse, the electro-optical gating process can be driven orders of magnitude faster, at THz frequencies. In this context, we introduce diamond as an exceptional electro-optical material and demonstrate a pulse gating time as fast as 100 fs using sub-cycle THz-induced Kerr nonlinearity. We show that THz-induced switching in the insulator diamond is fully governed by the THz pulse shape. The presented THz-based electro-optical approach overcomes the bandwidth and switching speed limits of conventional MHz/GHz electronics and establishes the ultrafast electro-optical gating technology for the first time in the THz frequency range. We finally show that the presented THz polarization gating technique is applicable for advanced beam diagnostics. As a first example, we demonstrate tomographic reconstruction of a THz pulse in three dimensions.
Tech Support
Section titled âTech SupportâOriginal Source
Section titled âOriginal SourceâReferences
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