Spintronic terahertz emitters with integrated metallic terahertz cavities.

Spintronic terahertz emitters (STEs), based on optical excitation of nanometer thick ferromagnetic/heavy metal (FM/HM) heterojunctions, have become important sources for the generation of terahertz (THz) pulses. However, the efficiency of the optical-to-THz conversion remains limited. Although optical techniques have been developed to enhance the optical absorption, no investigations have studied the application of THz cavities.

Optical damage thresholds of single-mode fiber-tip spintronic terahertz emitters.

Spintronic terahertz emitters (STEs) are gapless, ultrabroadband terahertz sources that can be driven within a wide pump-wavelength and repetition-rate range. While STEs driven by strong pump lasers operating at kilohertz repetition rates excel in generating high electric field strengths for terahertz spectroscopy or ellipsometry, newly advancing technologies such as ultrafast modulation of terahertz polarization, scanning tunneling microscopy, laser terahertz emission nanoscopy, and fully fiber-coupled integrated systems demand an STE pumping at megahertz repetition rates. In all these applications the available terahertz power is ultimately limited by the STE's optical damage threshold.

Effects of optical activity to Mueller matrix ellipsometry of composed waveplates.

Mueller matrix ellipsometry has been used to precisely characterize quartz waveplates for demanding applications in the semiconductor industry and high precision polarimetry. We have found this experimental technique to be beneficial to use because it enables us to obtain absolute and precise measurement of retardation in a wide spectral range, waveplate orientation, and compound waveplate adjustment. In this paper, the necessity of including the optical activity in the Mueller matrix model and data treatment is demonstrated.