Potential of Sub-THz-Wave Generation in Li2B4O7 Nonlinear Crystal at Room and Cryogenic Temperatures

Due to their high optical damage threshold, borate crystals can be used for the efficient nonlinear down-conversion of terawatt laser radiation into the terahertz (THz) frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this work, we carried out a thorough study of the terahertz optical properties of the lithium tetraborate crystal (Li2B4O7; LB4) at 295 and 77 K. Approximating the terahertz refractive index in the form of Sellmeier’s equations, we assessed the possibility of converting the radiation of widespread high-power laser sources with wavelengths of 1064 and 800 nm, as well as their second and third harmonics, into the THz range. It was found that four out of eight types of three-wave mixing processes are possible. The conditions for collinear phase matching were fulfilled only for the o − e → o type of interaction, while cooling the crystal to 77 K did not practically affect the phase-matching curves. However, a noticeable increase of birefringence in the THz range with cooling (from 0.12 to 0.16) led to an increase in the coherence length for o − o → e and e − e → e types of interaction, which are potentially attractive for the down-conversion of ultrashort laser pulses.

Terahertz response of monolayer and few-layer WTe2 at the nanoscale

Tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) is an atomically layered transition metal dichalcogenide whose physical properties change systematically from monolayer to bilayer and few-layer versions. In this report, we use apertureless scattering-type near-field optical microscopy operating at Terahertz (THz) frequencies and cryogenic temperatures to study the distinct THz range electromagnetic responses of mono-, bi- and trilayer WTe2 in the same multi-terraced micro-crystal. THz nano-images of monolayer terraces uncovered weakly insulating behavior that is consistent with transport measurements. The near-field signal on bilayer regions shows moderate metallicity with negligible temperature dependence. Subdiffractional THz imaging data together with theoretical calculations involving thermally activated carriers favor the semimetal scenario with $$\Delta \approx -10\,{{{\rm{meV}}}}$$ Δ ≈ − 10 meV over the semiconductor scenario for bilayer WTe2. Also, we observed clear metallic behavior of the near-field signal on trilayer regions. Our data are consistent with the existence of surface plasmon polaritons in the THz range confined to trilayer terraces in our specimens. Finally, data for microcrystals up to 12 layers thick reveal how the response of a few-layer WTe2 asymptotically approaches the bulk limit.

Resonator Method for Studying Dielectric Characteristics of Сaustobiolithes

For the sub-THz range, a method for studying the electrodynamic characteristics of organic materials – caustobiolithes-is developed on the basis of a resonator spectrometer. In the frequency range 110 ÷ 260 GHz, the dielectric parameters (refractive index n and tanδ) of peat powders after its microwave processing in the process of «soft» pyrolysis, as well as core sections of oil-containing rock, were studied. The influence of natural humidity on the dielectric parameters of the samples is considered. The reasons for the spread of measurement results, which is observed in these materials and is their specific feature, are discussed

Graphene-based tunable broadband polarizer for infrared frequency

This paper proposes the tunable graphene-assisted polarizer structure which is working on the infrared frequency range. The tunable polarizer has been designed by a three-layered structure of silica, graphene, and gold. The polarizer behavior of the structure is analyzed for the frequency range of 3 to 12 THz. The tunability of the structure is analyzed for the different values of fermi energy which is tunable parameter of single-layer graphene sheet. Polarizer response is derived in terms of different performance parameters such as reflectance, phase variation, phase difference, polarization conversion rate, and effective refractive indices. Graphene-based polarizer structure is investigated for the co-polarization and cross-polarization input incident conditions to check linear to circular polarization conversion. It also shows an effective refractive index response to check the metasurface behavior of the polarizer for 3 to 12 THz range. We have observed that the polarization amplitude becomes stronger for the higher Fermi energy value of the graphene sheet. The reflection amplitude is achieved up to 90%. Results of the proposed polarizer structure can be used to design the various electro-optical structure which operates in the lower THz range.

Improvement of an InfraRed Pyroelectric Detector Performances in THz Range Using the Terajet Effect

An infrared (IR) pyroelectric detector was investigated for terahertz (THz) detection using the principle of the terajet effect, which focuses the beam beyond the diffraction limit. The terahertz beam was coupled to the detector’s optical window through a two-wavelength-dimension dielectric cubic particle-lens based on the terajet effect. We experimentally demonstrate an enhancement of about 6 dB in the sensitivity under excitation of 0.2 THz without degradation of the noise equivalent power value. The results show that the proposed method could be applied to increase the sensitivity of various commercial IR sensors for THz applications that do not require modification of the internal structure, and it may apply also to acoustics and plasmonic detectors.