Antireflection coatings optimized for single-cycle THz pulses.

We show that a single-layer antireflection coating on a THz source of high refractive index can substantially increase the transmission of emitted THz pulses. Calculations indicate that the optimum coating thickness depends on the exact shape of the generated THz waveform and whether the transmitted waveform is to be optimized for the highest peak (temporal) amplitude, peak spectral amplitude, or pulse energy. We experimentally demonstrate a 15% increase in peak amplitude, a 33% increase in peak spectral amplitude, and a 48% increase in energy for a 100 μm thick fused silica AR coating on a lithium niobate crystal used as THz emitter.

A terahertz time-domain spectrometer for simultaneous transmission and reflection measurements at normal incidence.

We present a versatile terahertz time-domain spectrometer which allows reflection measurements at normal incidence and double pass transmission measurements in a single experimental setup. Two different modes for transmission measurements are demonstrated for precise measurements of transparent high or low refractive index materials, respectively. The refractive indices and absorption coefficients of cesium iodide, potassium bromide, sodium chloride, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Teflon), and silicon have been measured in the frequency range between 1.

Influence of phenolic hydroxyl groups on second-order optical nonlinearity at an example of 2,4- and 3,4-dihydroxyl hydrazone isomorphic crystals.

We investigate the crystal structure and physical properties of 2,4- and 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde-4-nitrophenylhydrazone (DHNPH) isomer crystals to understand the relation between molecular ordering with noncovalent interactions based on phenolic OH groups. The microscopic and macroscopic optical nonlinearities of 2,4- and 3,4-DHNPH crystals are investigated experimentally and theoretically by using density functional theory calculations. Although the two isomer crystals possess a very similar molecular orientation based on a similar supramolecular synthon, 2,4-DHNPH exhibits a 1.

A hydrogen-bonded organic nonlinear optical crystal for high-efficiency terahertz generation and detection.

Broadband THz pulses have been generated in 2-[3-(4- hydroxystyryl)-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-2-enylidene]malononitrile (OH1) by optical rectification of sub-picosecond laser pulses. We show that OH1 crystals allow velocity-matched generation and detection of THz frequencies in the whole range between 0.3 and 2.