Recently, the semiorganic crystal of guanylurea hydrogen phosphite was revealed as an extremely efficient narrow-band terahertz radiation source. It is proposed that the emission is closely connected with the excitement of high-quality phonon oscillations, which in turn necessitates a detailed characterization of the optical properties of the crystal in this range. The extreme dispersion of the angle between dielectric and crystallographic coordinates, permitted by the monoclinic syngony of the crystal, was estimated to be 2.3° per 100 GHz. The dielectric susceptibility of the crystal measured by means of time-domain spectroscopy is determined by the high-Q phonon at 1.45 THz for ETHz||x, which is responsible for the efficient terahertz generation. Also, two modes were found at 1.02 and 0.92 THz for ETHz||z and ETHz||y, respectively. All three components of the refractive index were measured in the range of 0.4–2 THz. We believe that modification of the crystal structure will allow tuning the characteristics of the narrowband terahertz source based on it.
Approaches based on antialiasing filtration and decimation (subsampling or undersampling) to improve the accuracy and acquisition time of terahertz time-domain spectrometers are proposed. Both rely on preliminary THz-signal filtering and frequency band reduction, followed by sampling interval increasing in accordance with the sampling theorem. The key elements for the task are quasi-optical band-pass (BPFs) and low-pass filters (LPFs). The carefully modeled metasurface design of the multi-layered interference-based microstructures permits the high performance of the filters. They provide a bandwidth of 5% for BPFs and a sharp cut-off edge for LPFs, as well as more than 40 dB out-of-band suppression, although metasurface geometries are based on trivial capacitive and inductive square elements: slits for BPFs and patches for LPFs.
Gallium selenide nonlinear optical crystals are effective up- and down-converters of terahertz and infrared frequencies. Their nonlinear characteristics at the telecommunication wavelength have not received enough attention, particularly for sulfur-doped crystals. In order to close this gap, we put forward data on the optical and electro-optical characteristics of GaSe(1-x)Sx crystals (where x = 0, 0.03, 0.12, 0.16, and 0.22) at the wavelength of 1.55 micrometers and in the terahertz range. This study provides an estimate of the GaSe:S crystal’s nonlinear coefficient d22(ω1, ω2, ω3) responsible for the terahertz wave generation by means of optical rectification and difference frequency generation, where ω1 ≈ ω2 – corresponds to the near infrared range, and ω3 belongs to the subterahertz frequencies. We assume that the value of d22 lies within the range from 13.9 to 20.5 pm/V for the wavelengths of 0.63 to 1.55μm. The potential of S-doped GaSe crystals to be used as nonlinear optical converters for photonic devices operating at telecom wavelengths is discussed.
Based on electro-optical measurements in the THz region and comparison with data from other authors, estimates of the nonlinear optical coefficient of GaSe crystals with varied degrees of sulfur doping are provided. The d22 value for GaSe was 13.9 pm/V at a laser wavelength of 1.55 microns. The acquired data are compared with the values of nonlinear coefficients for undoped GaSe samples provided in the works of other authors. The qualitative correspondence of experimental measurements of the nonlinearity coefficient and the empirical model based on Miller's rule in the range of 0.63 – 1.55 microns is shown. The inaccuracy of theoretical curve in comparison to the experimental one is around 10%. The techniques described in the paper for calculating the nonlinear optical coefficient's magnitude and the results obtained will make it possible to establish the foundation for the creation of radiophotonics devices based on unalloyed and sulfur-doped GaSe crystals.
We demonstrate here for the first time generation of tunable terahertz (THz) radiation based on photomixing continuous wave (CW) radiation of the DFB laser with fixed wavelength and self-sweeping Er-doped fiber one operating near 1560 nm. The latter sequentially generates longitudinal modes with duration of several milliseconds and regular hopping between them. In this case signal accumulation of THz radiation within generation of each mode can be performed to increase signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We demonstrated the possibility of designing a spectrometer with spectral resolution down to 50 MHz in the tuning range of ~5 GHz near the central frequency of 100 GHz. The proposed approach can be useful in the development of spectroscopic systems, millimeter-wave lidars, and telecom devices.
We present the thorough studies of dielectric properties of BiB3O6 (BIBO) crystal in the subterahertz range. We observe a large birefringence Δn = nZ −nX = 1.5 and the values of absorption coefficients of all three axes to be less than 0.5 cm−1 at the frequency of 0.3 THz. The difference from visible range in angle Φ between the dielectric axis z and crystallophysical axis χ is found to be more than 6°. The simulated phase-matching curves in the xz plane of the crystal show the optimal value of the angle θ to be around 25.5°±1° for an efficient millimeter-wave generation under the pump of 1064 nm laser radiation.
Optical properties of single axes Li2B4O7 (LB4) crystal are defined at room temperature in the spectral range 0.03˗0.5 THz. Dispersion of the refractive index components are approximated in the form of Sellmeier equations. Dispersion properties were used to determine phase-matching conditions for THz wave generation by collinear difference frequency generation processes. To the damage threshold under the pump by train of hundreds of 60 fs pulses of Ti:sapphire laser operating at 950 nm is found to be 250 TW/cm2, as well as the coherence length and efficiency of all possible types of three wave interactions are defined.
The dielectric properties of calf thymus DNA solutions in water and ethanol were investigated by means of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in the range of 0.1–1 THz. Complex dielectric permittivity of solutions was fitted by twocomponent relaxation Debye model with an overdamped oscillator and their parameters were estimated. The difference between the properties of the distilled water and all aqueous solutions is the most pronounced, while the ethanol-water mixture with and without DNA shows minimal changes of about 2%, which is comparable with the experimental accuracy.
We report on the fabrication of free-standing fluoropolymer composite films anisotropic in terms of THz photonic transmission. We used metallic Fe nanoparticles (80-110 nm diameter) obtained by the electric explosion as well as submicron (5 μm average) 5BDSR magnetic alloy particles two-step ground by a ball mill. These particles were dispersed in an acetone solution of the F42-l fluoropolymer. Upon casting, they could be oriented and assembled in alignment with an external magnetic field during solvent evaporation. Oriented composite films of such kind are considered as flexible polarizers with an irregular linear structure. Optical properties in the THz range of spectra were examined using a commercial THz-TDS T-Spec 1000, as well as a custom-made THz-TDS setup with a precise linear polarization of THz emission using a bunch of polarizer and analyzer. In addition, the optical properties of fabricated fluoropolymer composites are compared with copper foiled photoetched polyimide gratings with regular spacing. Irregular structure of magnetophoretic orientated 5BDSR fluoropolymer composites allows using them as ultra-wideband THz polarizers. Single-layer 5BDSR polarizer possesses an extinction ratio within 3:1 to 16:1 in the range of 0.2–2.4 THz.
The aim of this investigation is to search for the possibility of terahertz (THz) spectroscopy in combination with dielectrophoresis for studying erythrocytes from patients with diffuse liver diseases for diagnostics and differentiation of liver fibrosis degrees. Seventy-nine men aged 33 to 67 years with diffuse liver pathology, mainly alcohol, viral, and mixed genesis with varying degrees of liver fibrosis, were included in the study with 30 men (31- to 64-year-old) without signs of pathology of internal organs and liver fibrosis (F0, first group). The study of suspensions of red blood cells was carried out by THz spectroscopy and dielectrophoresis. An increase in the degree of liver fibrosis was associated with an increase in the number of deformed cells prone to aggregation and destruction, with a reduced surface charge, thickened membranes with high electrical conductivity, low deformability on the background of high summarized viscosity, and rigidity indicators (p < 0.0001 to 0.05). Strong correlations of THz spectroscopy indices with electrical and viscoelastic parameters of red blood cells were obtained. The revealed possibilities of the study of blood and its cell components are very promising in the diagnosis and differentiation of the degrees of liver fibrosis.
We report terahertz optical properties of 1% Nd-doped potassium gadolinium tungstate (KGW) monocrystals studied by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in the range of 0.25–2.1 THz. KGW refractive index and absorption coefficient are measured for waves polarized parallel to all three axes of optical indicatrix Ng, Nm, Np. Typical values for the refractive indices are ng = 3.75, nm = 3.37, np = 3.40 at 1 THz corresponding to rather large birefringence of ng – nm ≈ 0.38. We find that KGW exhibits dispersion in the studied spectral range with the refractive index ng, for example, significantly increasing by the value of 0.5. We approximate the dispersion of the refractive index in the form of Sellmeier equations. Absorption coefficient behaves similarly for all three optical axes and it is less than 5 cm-1 for the frequencies below 1 THz. It rises significantly up to 50 cm-1 at higher frequencies where we also observe dichroism of more than 10 cm-1. Observed properties can be attributed to vibrational modes at 2.58 and 3.39 THz found by Raman and IR spectroscopy in previous studies. However, we find no particular features in the spectral range under investigation in contrast to Raman and IR spectroscopy results. Relatively high cubic nonlinearity of KGW crystal, its small low-frequency terahertz absorption and high birefringence indicate an opportunity for its usage for optical-to-optical and optical-to-terahertz conversion.
In recent years, the terahertz sources have attracted much attention for its special use compared with so for UV-visible range. Crystal with high quality and special properties is their indispensable part. Optical properties such as the absorption coefficient and refractive index at three basic crystal orientations (x, y, and z-direction) of the BIBO crystal have been studied by the Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy at room temperature. A large birefringence was observed. The measured refractive index components were approximated in the form of Sellmeier equations. Phase-matching curves for collinear down-conversion of IR laser frequencies into the THz domain were preliminarily estimated. A prospect of BIBO crystals as THz generators are discussed, and comparison with popular crystals is given.
We present a detailed study of the dielectric constant and loss tangent of popular nonlinear optical crystals LBO, β-BBO, and KTP in the range of 0.6-1.5 mm (200-500 GHz) at room and liquid nitrogen (77 K) temperatures. These materials have a strong commercial influence as nonlinear frequency converters of laser radiation in the visible and near-infrared spectra, but the prospects for millimeter-wave photonics and optoelectronics applications are still unclear. Besides, the phase-matching curves for DFG of 1.064 μm laser radiation into millimeter waves were numerically estimated to show the feasibility of using the crystals as compact intense radiation sources.
This paper presents model study and experimental results on frequency conversion of Ti:Sapphire laser operating at 950 nm into the long-wavelength THz range in a β-BBO crystal. The generating spectrum in the range of 0.2 - 0.8 THz is studied in detail.
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