Compact and coherent source of widely tunable THz radiation

T. J. Edwards; D. Walsh; M. B. Spurr; P. G. Browne; C. F. Rae; M. H. Dunn

doi:10.1117/12.689621

Translator Disclaimer

28 September 2006 Compact and coherent source of widely tunable THz radiation

T. J. Edwards, D. Walsh, M. B. Spurr, P. G. Browne, C. F. Rae, M. H. Dunn

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6402, Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism and Crime Fighting II; 64020C (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.689621
Event: Optics/Photonics in Security and Defence, 2006, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

We report a THz radiation source based on the technique of non-collinear phasematched parametric generation. The source, which is compact and operable at room temperature, generates nanosecond pulses of peak power and energy greater than 3 W and 17 nJ respectively. The radiation is continuously tunable over the range 1.2-3.05 THz and is of narrow spectral bandwidth (<100 GHz). The use of intersecting pump and parametric wave cavities results in minimum threshold pump pulse energies below 1 mJ (from a Nd:YAG laser excited at 20 W, 500 μsec by a quasi-CW diode-laser) and close to 50% down-conversion efficiency when operated at twice threshold.

Citation Download Citation

T. J. Edwards, D. Walsh, M. B. Spurr, P. G. Browne, C. F. Rae, and M. H. Dunn "Compact and coherent source of widely tunable THz radiation", Proc. SPIE 6402, Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism and Crime Fighting II, 64020C (28 September 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.689621

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE