Generation and detection of terahertz radiation by means of periodically and aperiodically poled crystals

The nonlinear optical methods for generating and detecting terahertz radiation using periodically and aperiodically poled crystals in the quasi-phase-matching mode are analyzed. Two radically different versions of optical pumping are considered: a quasi-continuous mode and pumping by Fourier-limited femto-second pulses. General relations are obtained, which determine the spectra of generated and detected waves through the optical pumping parameters and the crystal generator and crystal detector nonlinear transfer functions. It is shown that, by choosing the optimal spatial modulation of the crystal nonlinear susceptibility, one can control the shape of the generation and detection spectra. An optical scheme is proposed and the optimal parameters of domain structures for quasi-phase-matched generation and frequency-matched detection of forward and backward terahertz waves under quasi-continuous-wave optical pumping are reported.