Adaptable electro-optic detection of THz radiation using a laser-written bull's-eye antenna.

We report a nonlinear terahertz (THz) detection device based on a metallic bull's-eye plasmonic antenna. The antenna, fabricated with femtosecond laser direct writing and deposited on a nonlinear gallium phosphide (GaP) crystal, focuses incoming THz waveforms within the sub-wavelength bull's eye region to locally enhance the THz field. Additionally, the plasmonic structure minimizes diffraction effects allowing a relatively long interaction length between the transmitted THz field and the co-propagating near-infrared gating pulse used in an electro-optic sampling configuration.

Zeptojoule detection of terahertz pulses by parametric frequency upconversion.

We combine parametric frequency upconversion with the single-photon counting technology to achieve terahertz (THz) detection sensitivity down to the zeptojoule (zJ) pulse energy level. Our detection scheme employs a near-infrared ultrafast source, a GaP nonlinear crystal, optical filters, and a single-photon avalanche diode. This configuration is able to resolve 1.

Single-pulse terahertz spectroscopy monitoring sub-millisecond time dynamics at a rate of 50 kHz.

Slow motion movies allow us to see intricate details of the mechanical dynamics of complex phenomena. If the images in each frame are replaced by terahertz (THz) waves, such movies can monitor low-energy resonances and reveal fast structural or chemical transitions. Here, we combine THz spectroscopy as a non-invasive optical probe with a real-time monitoring technique to demonstrate the ability to resolve non-reproducible phenomena at 50k frames per second, extracting each of the generated THz waveforms every 20 μs.

Spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking in twisted double bilayer graphene.

Twisted double bilayer graphene (tDBG) comprises two Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene sheets with a twist between them. Gate voltages applied to top and back gates of a tDBG device tune both the flatness and topology of the electronic bands, enabling an unusual level of experimental control. Metallic states with broken spin and valley symmetries have been observed in tDBG devices with twist angles in the range 1.