Intense multi-octave supercontinuum pulses from an organic emitter covering the entire THz frequency gap

Abstract

In Terahertz (THz) technology, one of the long-standing challenges has been the formation of intense pulses covering the hard-to-access frequency range of 1-15 THz (so-called THz gap). This frequency band, lying between the electronically (<1 THz) and optically (>15 THz) accessible spectrum hosts a series of important collective modes and molecular fingerprints which cannot be fully accessed by present THz sources. While present high-energy THz sources are limited to 0.1-4 THz the accessibility to the entire THz gap with intense THz pulses would substantially broaden THz applications like live cell imaging at higher-resolution, cancer diagnosis, resonant and non-resonant control over matter and light, strong-field induced catalytic reactions, formation of field-induced transient states and contact-free detection of explosives. Here we present a new, all-in-one solution for producing and tailoring extremely powerful supercontinuum THz pulses with a stable absolute phase and covering the entire THz gap (0.1-15 THz), thus more than 7 octaves. Our method expands the scope of THz photonics to a frequency range previously inaccessible to intense sources.