Broadly tunable terahertz source

摘要

We present the results of a terahertz (THz) source based on difference frequency generation (DFG) that tunes seamlessly from 1.4 to 13.3 THz. The outputs from two seeded periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) optical parametric generators (OPGs) are mixed in a DAST crystal to generate the THz frequencies. The OPG's have ～1 nsec pulse duration and an output energy of approximately 200 μJ. The corresponding high peak intensities in the DAST crystal leads to appreciable conversion efficiency such that a room temperature pyro-electric detector is used to measure the THz signal. In one of the OPGs a continuously varying periodicity PPLN crystal is used to tune the output wavelength by translating the crystal. The crystal position and seed laser are computer-controlled and synchronized such that any wavelength within the seed laser's tuning range is randomly accessible, and hence any THz difference frequency between the two seed lasers is also randomly accessible. Phase matching in DAST requires the DFG inputs to have the same polarization. We demonstrate a scheme where the output of one of the OPGs is sent through the second OPG such that the two beams are collinear with the same polarization without using a beam splitter.