Proceedings Article | 2 December 2010
KEYWORDS: Terahertz radiation, Digital holography, Electro optics, Crystals, Holograms, Algorithm development, Computer programming, Digital recording, Laser beam diagnostics, Femtosecond phenomena
Up to now, a variety of methods have been developed for the single-shot THz detection, which include spectral encoding
technique [2-3], optical streak camera [4], non-collinear geometry spatial encoding [5], non-collinear cross correlation
technique [6], retrieval algorithm based on in-line spectral interferometry [7], two-dimensional electro-optic imaging
with dual echelons [8], tilted front collinear geometry [9], etc.
For a single-shot characterization of THz pulse, all of the schemes mentioned above can be, however, only employed to
measure the electric field of a single-shot THz either in its spatial or temporal domain, respectively, in real time.
In this paper, we describe a method for a single-shot recording of the full spatiotemporal electric field, E(x, y, t), of
freely propagating terahertz pulse based on the electro-optic (E-O) sampling technique and the pulsed digital holographic
approach. From a series of sub-holograms recorded digitally, the complete THz electric field E(x, y, t) can be recovered
by the following digital reconstruction algorithm. The spatial and temporal resolutions are limited by the wavelength of
terahertz pulse and the probe pulse duration, respectively. Our new method will open a possibility of a full
characterization of the three-dimensional THz field E(x, y, t) in a single-shot mode.
