We present an analytical method to study the angular distribution of THz radiation driven by two-color laser-induced microplasma in nitrogen gas. Directionally dependent temporal waveforms of the radiated THz pulse is calculated. To do so, we have extended the photo-current model to calculate three-dimensional distribution of the photo-induced current from which the far field THz radiation is computed. We have also studied the effect of optical polarization state and phase difference on the angular distribution of radiation. Our study shows that for two orthogonally-polarized colors, not only THz polarization state, but also the angular distribution of THz radiation is mostly influenced by the second optical harmonic. The possibility of rotating the angular radiation pattern around the axis of the laser propagation is illustrated for circularly-polarized laser drivers by changing the optical phase difference.
The two-color strong-field mixing in gas medium is a widely-used approach to generate bright broadband terahertz (THz) radiation. Here, we present a new and counterintuitive method to promote THz performance in two-color scheme. Beyond our knowledge that the maximum THz generation occurs with two-color foci overlapped, we found that, when the foci of two-color beams are noticeably separated along the propagation axis resulting in cascading plasmas, the THz conversion efficiency is surged by one order of magnitude and the bandwidth is stretched by more than 2 times, achieving $10^{-3}$ conversi…
We study the influence of the polarization states of femtosecond two-color pulses ionizing gases on the emitted terahertz radiation. A local-current model and plane-wave evaluations justify the previously-reported impact on the THz energy yield and an (almost) linearly-polarized THz field when using circularly-polarized laser harmonics. For such pump pulses, the THz yield is independent on the relative phase between the two colors. When the pump pulses have same helicity, the increase in the THz yield is associated to longer ionization sequences and higher electron transverse momenta acquired …
We present on THz generation in the two-color gas plasma scheme driven by a high-power, ultrafast fiber laser system. The applied scheme is a promising approach for scaling the THz average power but it has been limited so far by the driving lasers to repetition rates up to 1 kHz. Here, we demonstrate recent results of THz generation operating at a two orders of magnitude higher repetition rate. This results in a unprecedented THz average power of 50 mW. The development of compact, table-top THz sources with high repetition rate and high field strength is crucial for studying nonlinear response…
Although the THz spectral range experiences a tremendous grow of interest for at least two decades, it is still one of the least explored but most exciting areas to study light-matter interaction. Due to the small photon energy of THz radiation, it can propagate through non-conductive materials and resonantly interact with low-energy excitations, leading to a plethora of applications. The THz pulse is thereby primarily used as a probe while an optical pulse excites the material that is examined. In contrast, intense strong-field THz transients would allow on-demand control of the properties of…
Frequency-angular distributions for THz emission in the range of 0.1 - 3 THz generated in a single-color laser filament plasma situated both under and without electrostatic field are for the first time experimentally studied. The angular distribution for various spectral components of this THz emission is demonstrated to differ significantly. The maximal propagation angles for these components grow up under the electric field, the angular distribution for the low-frequency THz emission depending significantly on the laser pulse energy in contrast to the case of no electric field. An increase i…
We present a high-power source of broadband terahertz radiation covering the whole THz spectral region (0.1-30 THz). The two-color gas plasma generation process is driven by a state-of-the-art Ytterbium fiber chirped pulse amplification system based on coherent combination of 16 rod-type amplifiers. Prior to the THz generation, the pulses are spectrally broadened in a multi-pass-cell and compressed to 37 fs with a pulse-energy of 1.3 mJ at a repetition rate of 500 kHz. A gas-jet scheme has been employed for the THz generation, increasing the efficiency of the process to 0.1%. The air-biased-co…
Dissipative Kerr solitons (DKSs) in optical microresonators have been intensely studied from the perspective of both fundamental nonlinear physics and portable and low power technological applications in communications, sensing, and metrology. In parallel, synthetic dimensions offer the promise of studying physical phenomena with a dimensionality beyond that imposed by geometry, and have been implemented in optics. The interplay of DKS physics with synthetic dimensions promises to unveil numerous new physical and technological insights, yet many fundamental challenges remain. In particular, DK…
Experimental Realization of All-Optical Terahertz Attoclock
Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院上海高等研究院）；Center for Transformative Science and School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University（上海科技大学变革科学中心与物理科学与技术学院）；School of Electrical Engineering, Tiangong University（天津大学电气工程学院）；School of Physics, Henan Normal University（河南师范大学物理学院）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Department of Chemistry, Tohoku University（东北大学化学系）
Tracking the excitation of water molecules in the homogeneous liquid is challenging due to the ultrafast dissipation of rotational excitation energy through the hydrogen-bonded network. Here we demonstrate strong transient anisotropy of liquid water through librational excitation using single-color pump-probe experiments at 12.3 THz. We deduce a third order response of chi^3 exceeding previously reported values in the optical range by three orders of magnitude. Using a theory that replaces the nonlinear response with a material response property amenable to molecular dynamics simulation, we sh…
