Spatiotemporal control of two-color terahertz generation
Optics
2023-06-06 v1 Plasma Physics
Abstract
A laser pulse composed of a fundamental and properly phased second harmonic exhibits an asymmetric electric field that can drive a time-dependent current of photoionized electrons. The current produces an ultrashort burst of terahertz (THz) radiation. When driven by a conventional laser pulse, the THz radiation is emitted into a cone with an angle determined by the dispersion of the medium. Here we demonstrate that the programmable-velocity intensity peak of a spatiotemporally structured, two-color laser pulse can be used to control the emission angle, focal spot, and spectrum of the THz radiation. Of particular interest for applications, a structured pulse with a subluminal intensity peak can drive highly focusable, on-axis THz radiation.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2306.01840,
title = {Spatiotemporal control of two-color terahertz generation},
author = {Tanner T. Simpson and Jeremy J. Pigeon and Manfred Virgil Ambat and Kyle G. Miller and Dillon Ramsey and Kale Weichman and Dustin H. Froula and John P. Palastro},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.01840},
year = {2023}
}