Terahertz emission in tenuous gases irradiated by ultrashort laser pulses

Mechanism of terahertz (THz) pulse generation in gases irradiated by ultrashort laser pulses is investigated theoretically. Quasi-static transverse currents produced by laser field ionization of gases and the longitudinal modulation in formed plasmas are responsible for the THz emission at the electron plasma frequency, as demonstrated by particle-in-cell simulations including field ionization. The THz field amplitude scaling with the laser amplitude within a large range is also discussed.     

Terahertz emission in tenuous gases irradiated by ultrashort laser pulses

Mechanism of terahertz (THz) pulse generation in gases irradiated by ultrashort laser pulses is investigated theoretically. Quasi-static transverse currents produced by laser field ionization of gases and the longitudinal modulation in formed plasmas are responsible for the THz emission at the electron plasma frequency, as demonstrated by particle-in-cell simulations including field ionization. The THz field amplitude scaling with the laser amplitude within a large range is also discussed.     

Terahertz Radiation from Graphite Excited by Femtosecond Laser Pulses

We experimentally investigate the terahertz （THz） generation from a graphite surface induced by femtosecond laser pulses, and systematically study the dependence on the excitation power, the crystal orientation of graphite, polarization state and incident angle of optical beam. New evidence related to excitation and detection geometry is found and presented, which supports the THz generation mechanism of transient photocarrier transporting along the basal plane normal. Our observation also suggests other probable contributions by in-plane charge oscillations. The results may be helpful to explore and understand the photoelectric properties of graphite and other allotropes of carbon.     

Mid-IR Laser Generating Ultrasound in a Polyetheretherketone Polymer

We demonstrate laser ultrasonic generation in polyetheretherketone(PEEK). A middle infrared ZnGeP2 optical parametric oscillator(ZGP-OPO) pumped by a Q-switched Ho:YAG laser is employed as the ultrasonic excitation source. The ZGP-OPO has a spectral range of 3.2–3.4 μm. At an output wavelength of 3.4 μm, the maximum average output power of ZGP-OPO is 3.05 W with a pulse width of 24.3 ns, corresponding to a peak power of approximately 127.5 kW. The ultrasound is generated by the laser converted from 3.2 to 3.4 μm in the PEEK composite. The maximum ultrasonic signal amplitude in PEEK is 33 mV under the condition of thermoelastic excitation at 3.4 μm. Ablation occurs in the CPRF sample when the energy fluence is over 122.45 m J/cm~2. PEEK has a stronger absorption at 3.4 μm and laser-ultrasound generation is influenced by the wavelength of the laser.     

The photoluminescence of ZnSe bulk single crystals excited by femtosecond pulse

This paper reports on the photoluminescence spectra of ZnSe single crystal with trace chlorine excited by the femtosecond laser pulse. Three emission bands, including second-harmonic-generation, two-photon-excited peak and a broad band at 500--700nm, were detected. The thermal strain induced by femtosecond pulse strongly influences the photoluminescence of ZnSe crystal. The corresponding strain \va in ZnSe crystal is estimated to be about 8.8 \ti10^-3 at room temperature. The zinc-vacancy, as the main point defect induced by femtosecond pulse, is successfully used to interpret the broad emission at 500--700nm. The research shows that self-activated luminescence possesses the recombination mechanism of donor--vacancy pair, and it is also influenced by a few selenium defects and the temperature. The rapid decrease in photoluminescence intensity of two-photon-excited fluorescence and second-harmonic generation emission at lower temperature is attributed to the fact that more point defects result in the thermal activation of the two-photo-absorption energy converting to the stronger recombination emission of chlorine--zinc vacancy in 500--700nm. The experimental results indicate that the femtosecond exciting photoluminescence shows a completely different emission mechanism to that of He--Cd exciting luminescence in ZnSe single crystal. The femtosecond laser exhibits a higher sensitive to the impurity in crystal materials, which can be recommended as an efficient way to estimate the trace impurity in high quality crystals.     

Subpicosecond pulse compression in nonlinear photonic crystal waveguides based on the formation of high-order optical solitons

We investigate by numerical simulation the compression of subpicosecond pulses in two-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal (PC) waveguides. The compression originates from the generation of high-order optical solitons through the interplay of the huge group-velocity dispersion and the enhanced self-phase modulation in nonlinear PC waveguides.Both the formation of Bragg grating solitons and gap solitons can lead to efficient pulse compression. The compression factors under different excitation power densities and the optimum length for subpicosecond pulse compression have been determined. As a compressor, the total length of the nonlinear PC waveguide is only ten micrometres and therefore can be easily incorporated into PC integrated circuits.     

High Gain Lateral Semi-Insulating GaAs Photoconductive Switch Triggered by 1064nm Laser Pulses

We report on the experimental results of a lateral semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive switch,with a gap of 8 mm between two electrodes,triggered by 1064 nm laser pulses at a wavelength beyond the GaAs absorption edge.Both the linear and nonlinear modes of the switch were observed when it was triggered by light pulses with an energy of 1.9 mJ and a pulse width of 60 ns,and operated at high voltages of 3 and 5 kV.The results show that when the semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive switch operates under an electrical field of 4.37kV/cm,it will enter into the linear mode first,and then the switch will undergo the nonlinear mode (lock-on ) after a delay of about 20-100ns.It is worth noticing that the delay time under high light energy is longer than that in the low optical energy.The non-intrinsic absorption mechanism is discussed.EL2 deep level defects and double-photon absorption in GaAs may play a key part in the absorption process.     

Excitonic Absorption of Semiconductor Nanorings under Terahertz Fields

The optical absorption of GaAs nanorings （NRs） under adc electric field and a terahertz （THz） ac electric field applied in the plane containing the NRs is investigated theoretically. The NRs may enclose some magnetic flux in the presence of a magnetic field perpendicular to the NRs plane. Numerical calculation shows that the excitonic effects are essential to correctly describe the optical absorption in NRs. The applied lateral THz electric field, as well as the dc field leads to reduction, broadening and splitting of the exciton peak. In contrast to the presence of a dc field, significant optical absorption peak arises below the zero-field bandgap in the presence ofa THz electric field at a certain frequency. The optical absorption spectrum depends evidently on the frequency and amplitude of the applied THz field and on the magnetic flux threading the NRs. This promises potential applications of NRs for magneto-optical and THz electro-optical sensing.     

Photonic generation of arbitrary waveforms based on incoherent wavelength-to-time mapping

We demonstrate experimentally a radio frequency arbitrary waveform generator using the incoherent wavelengthto-time mapping technique.The system is implemented by amplitude modulation of a broadband optical resource whose spectrum is reshaped by a programmable optical pulse shaper and transmitted over a single mode fiber link.The shape of the generated waveform is controlled by the optical pulse shaper,and the fiber link introduces a certain group velocity delay to implement wavelength-to-time mapping.Assisted by the flexible optical pulse shaper,we obtain different shapes of optical waveforms,such as rectangle,triangle,and sawtooth waveforms.Furthermore,we also demonstrate ultra-wideband generation,such as Gaussian monocycle,doublet,and triplet waveforms,using the incoherent technique.     

The damage of the optical components induced by the stimulated Brillouin scattering

A theory of excitation of ultrasonic waves in the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) process is presented in this paper. By using several reasonable approximations, a numerical calculation of the transient longitudinal SBS shows that large amplitude of acoustic waves can be built up by the nanosecond pulse of high-power laser, which may result in the damage of optical glasses. The maximal density change and the maximal acoustic wave intensity in optical glasses of 5\,cm in thickness are calculated by using different parameters of the high-energy laser, such as the intensity, the pulse width, and the wave length. The damage threshold of the optical glasses is about 80 GW/cm^{2} when using a 1064 nm laser. The dynamic mechanism of SBS is the electrostriction effect of the components coupling with the high-power laser.