Akram Ibrahim

Intense terahertz radiation and their applications

In this paper, we will review both past and recent progresses in the generation, detection and application of intense terahertz (THz) radiation. We will restrict the review to laser based intense few-cycle THz sources, and thus will not include sources such as synchrotron-based or narrowband sources. We will first review the various methods used for generating intense THz radiation, including photoconductive antennas (PCAs), optical rectification sources (especially the tilted-pulse-front lithium niobate source and the DAST source, but also those using other crystals), air plasma THz sources and relativistic laser–plasma sources. Next, we will give a brief introduction on the common methods for coherent THz detection techniques (namely the PCA technique and the electro-optic sampling), and point out the limitations of these techniques for measuring intense THz radiation. We will then review three techniques that are highly suited for detecting intense THz radiation, namely the air breakdown coherent detection technique, various single-shot THz detection techniques, and the spectral-domain interferometry technique. Finally, we will give an overview of the various applications that have been made possible with such intense THz sources, including nonlinear THz spectroscopy of condensed matter (optical-pump/THz-probe, THz-pump/THz-probe, THz-pump/optical-probe), nonlinear THz optics, resonant and non-resonant control of material (such as switching of superconductivity, magnetic and polarization switching) and controlling the nonlinear response of metamaterials. We will also provide a short perspective on the future of intense THz sources and their applications.

Self-referenced spectral domain interferometry for improved signal-to-noise measurement of terahertz radiation

In this work, we demonstrate self-referenced spectral domain interferometry for the electro-optic sampling of terahertz (THz) electric fields. This technique allows reduction of the phase noise of the measurement, thus increasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Using the proposed technique, we achieve a more than sixfold improvement in the SNR of the detected THz electric field.

Nonlinear transmission of an intense terahertz field through monolayer graphene

We report nonlinear terahertz (THz) effects in monolayer graphene, giving rise to transmission enhancement of a single-cycle THz pulse when the incident THz peak electric field is increased. This transmission enhancement is attributed to reduced photoconductivity, due to saturation effects in the field-induced current and increased intraband scattering rates arising from transient heating of electrons. We have developed a tight-binding model of the response using the length gauge interaction Hamiltonian that provides good qualitative agreement. The model fully accounts for the nonlinear response arising from the linear dispersion energy spectrum in graphene. The results reveal a strong dependence of the scattering time on the THz field, which is at the heart of the observed nonlinear response.

Ultra-high dynamic range electro-optic sampling for detecting millimeter and sub-millimeter radiation.

Time-domain spectroscopy using coherent millimeter and sub-millimeter radiation (also known as terahertz radiation) is rapidly expanding its application, owing greatly to the remarkable advances in generating and detecting such radiation. However, many current techniques for coherent terahertz detection have limited dynamic range, thus making it difficult to perform some basic experiments that need to directly compare strong and weak terahertz signals. Here, we propose and demonstrate a novel technique based on cross-polarized spectral-domain interferometry to achieve ultra-high dynamic range electro-optic sampling measurement of coherent millimeter and sub-millimeter radiation. In our scheme, we exploit the birefringence in a single-mode polarization maintaining fiber in order to measure the phase change induced by the electric field of terahertz radiation in the detection crystal. With our new technique, we have achieved a dynamic range of 7 × 106, which is 4 orders of magnitude higher than conventional electro-optic sampling techniques, while maintaining comparable signal-to-noise ratio. The present technique is foreseen to have great impact on experiments such as linear terahertz spectroscopy of optically thick materials (such as aqueous samples) and nonlinear terahertz spectroscopy, where the higher dynamic range is crucial for proper interpretation of experimentally obtained results.

Impact of tungsten doping on the dynamics of the photo-induced insulator-metal phase transition in VO2 thin film investigated by optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy

The influence of tungsten (W) doping on the ultrafast dynamics of the photo-induced insulator-metal phase transition (IMT) is investigated at room temperature in epitaxially grown vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films by means of optical pump-terahertz (THz) probe spectroscopy. It is observed that the THz transmission variation of the films across the IMT follows a bi-exponential decrease characterized by two time constants, one corresponding to a fast process and the other to a slower process. W-doping (i) reduces the photo-excitation fluence threshold required for triggering the IMT, (ii) accelerates the slow process, and (iii) increases the THz transient transmission variation for corresponding fluences. From the Drude-Smith model, it is deduced that a strong carrier confinement and an enhancement of the transient conductivity occur across the IMT. The IMT is also accompanied by an increase in the carrier concentration in the films, which is enhanced by W-doping. Our results suggest that W-doped VO2 could ...

Self-referenced spectral-domain interferometry for THz detection

We demonstrate self-referenced spectral-domain interferometry (SDI) for terahertz detection. It not only overcomes the limitation of over-rotation for intense terahertz fields, but also considerably increases the signal-to-noise ratio, when compared with conventional SDI techniques.

Towards nonlinear terahertz metamaterials

We demonstrate nonlinear effects induced by an intense terahertz field on the transmission response of metamaterial structures fabricated on a silicon wafer, as well as ultrafast modulation in the terahertz response of our samples.