Generation of scalable terahertz radiation from cylindrically focused two-color laser pulses in air

Journal Article · Mon Mar 21 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4944843· OSTI ID:22591458

Kuk, D.; Yoo, Y. J.; Rosenthal, E. W.; Jhajj, N.; Milchberg, H. M.

We demonstrate scalable terahertz (THz) generation by focusing terawatt, two-color laser pulses in air with a cylindrical lens. This focusing geometry creates a two-dimensional air plasma sheet, which yields two diverging THz lobe profiles in the far field. This setup can avoid plasma-induced laser defocusing and subsequent THz saturation, previously observed with spherical lens focusing of high-power laser pulses. By expanding the plasma source into a two-dimensional sheet, cylindrical focusing can lead to scalable THz generation. This scheme provides an energy conversion efficiency of 7 × 10{sup −4}, ∼7 times better than spherical lens focusing. The diverging THz lobes are refocused with a combination of cylindrical and parabolic mirrors to produce strong THz fields (>21 MV/cm) at the focal point.

• OSTI ID: 22591458
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AIR
COLOR
CYLINDRICAL CONFIGURATION
EFFICIENCY
FOCUSING
LASERS
LENSES
MIRRORS
PLASMA
PLASMA SHEET
PULSES
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
TWO-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS