Nonlinear terahertz-wave radiation generated by mid-infrared dual-chirped optical parametric amplification femtosecond pulse laser excitation

Abstract

We demonstrate an efficient procedure for terahertz-wave radiation generation by applying a nonlinear wavelength conversion approach using a mid-infrared pump source. We used a 3.3 {\mu}m dual-chirped optical parametric amplification source and a 1.5 {\mu}m fiber laser for a comparison of energy conversion efficiencies. Nonlinear inorganic and organic crystals were used, and for the periodically-poled lithium niobate crystal, the efficiencies were 1.3*10^-4 and 5.6*10^-12 for the 3.3 {\mu}m source and the 1.5 {\mu}m source, respectively. We confirmed that nonlinear crystals could be pumped with tera-watt / cm^2 class by using an mid-infrared source, which reduces several undesirable nonlinear optical effects.