Topological Insulator Films for Terahertz Photonics.

We discuss experimental and theoretical studies of the generation of the third terahertz (THz) frequency harmonic in thin films of BiSe and BiSbTeSe (BSTS) topological insulators (TIs) and the generation of THz radiation in photoconductive antennas based on the TI films. The experimental results, supported by the developed kinetic theory of third harmonic generation, show that the frequency conversion in TIs is highly efficient because of the linear energy spectrum of the surface carriers and fast energy dissipation. In particular, the dependence of the third harmonic field on the pump field remains cubic up to the pump fields of 100 kV/cm.

Broadband bright twin beams and their upconversion.

We report on the observation of broadband (40 THz) bright twin beams through high-gain parametric downconversion in an aperiodically poled lithium niobate crystal. The output photon number is shown to scale exponentially with the pump power and not with the pump amplitude, as in homogeneous crystals. Photon number correlations and the number of frequency/temporal modes are assessed by spectral covariance measurements.

Terahertz continuous wave nonlinear-optical detection without phase-locking between a source and the detector.

We demonstrate the possibility of nonlinear-optical detection of terahertz (THz) wave radiation without phase-locking between a source and a detector. Spectrally resolved room-temperature incoherent nonlinear-optical detection is demonstrated for 0.22-THz continuous wave (CW) radiation by upconversion using a 100-mW CW laser in a 15-mm-long Mg:LiNbO crystal.

Long-range parametric amplification of THz wave with absorption loss exceeding parametric gain.

Optical parametric mixing is a popular scheme to generate an idler wave at THz frequencies, although the THz wave is often absorbing in the nonlinear optical material. It is widely suggested that the useful material length for co-directional parametric mixing with strong THz-wave absorption is comparable to the THz-wave absorption length in the material. Here we show that, even in the limit of the absorption loss exceeding parametric gain, the THz idler wave can grows monotonically from optical parametric amplification over a much longer distance in a nonlinear optical material until pump depletion.