Terahertz-Triggered Phase Transition and Hysteresis Narrowing in a Nanoantenna Patterned Vanadium Dioxide Film.

We demonstrate that high-field terahertz (THz) pulses trigger transient insulator-to-metal transition in a nanoantenna patterned vanadium dioxide thin film. THz transmission of vanadium dioxide instantaneously decreases in the presence of strong THz fields. The transient THz absorption indicates that strong THz fields induce electronic insulator-to-metal transition without causing a structural transformation.

Unconventional terahertz carrier relaxation in graphene oxide: observation of enhanced auger recombination due to defect saturation.

Photoexcited carrier relaxation is a recurring topic in understanding the transient conductivity dynamics of graphene-based devices. For atomically thin graphene oxide (GO), a simple free-carrier Drude response is expected to govern the terahertz (THz) conductivity dynamics--same dynamics observed in conventional CVD-grown graphene. However, to date, no experimental testimony has been provided on the origin of photoinduced conductivity increase in GO.

Terahertz excitation of a coherent λ-type three-level system of exciton-polariton modes in a quantum-well microcavity.

Interactions of few-cycle terahertz pulses with the induced optical polarization in a quantum-well microcavity reveal that the lower and higher exciton-polariton modes together with the optically forbidden 2p-exciton state form a unique Λ-type three-level system. Pronounced nonlinearities are observed via time-resolved strong-terahertz and weak-optical excitation spectroscopy and explained with a fully microscopic theory. The results show that the terahertz pulses strongly couple the exciton-polariton states to the 2p-exciton state while no resonant transition between the two polariton levels is observed.

Terahertz imaging and spectroscopy of large-area single-layer graphene.

We demonstrate terahertz (THz) imaging and spectroscopy of a 15 × 15-mm2 single-layer graphene film on Si using broadband THz pulses. The THz images clearly map out the THz carrier dynamics of the graphene-on-Si sample, allowing us to measure sheet conductivity with sub-mm resolution without fabricating electrodes. The THz carrier dynamics are dominated by intraband transitions and the THz-induced electron motion is characterized by a flat spectral response.

Interaction of strong single-cycle terahertz pulses with semiconductor quantum wells.

An experiment-theory comparison is presented to demonstrate terahertz-induced extreme-nonlinear transients in a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well system. The terahertz-pump and optical-probe experiments show pronounced spectral modulations of the light- and heavy-hole excitonic resonances. Excellent agreement with the results of microscopic many-body calculations is obtained, identifying clear ponderomotive contributions and the generation of terahertz harmonics.

Multiphoton absorption and nonlinear refraction of GaAs in the mid-infrared.

We report the wavelength dependencies of the two- and three-photon absorption coefficients of undoped GaAs in the spectral range 1.3-3.5 microm, as well as nonlinear refractive index n2 in the range 1.

Terahertz wave propagation in one-dimensional periodic dielectrics.

We demonstrate the temporal evolution of terahertz (THz) wave propagation in one-dimensional periodic dielectrics. Distributed Bragg reflectors and a resonant cavity are investigated: The structures involve air gaps interleaved between polymer films. Transmitted and reflected broadband THz waves are measured by means of THz time-domain spectroscopy.