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Extreme nonlinear interactions of THz electromagnetic fields with matter are the next frontier in nonlinear optics. However, reaching this frontier in free space is limited by the existing lack of appropriate powerful THz sources. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that two-color filamentation of femtosecond mid-infrared laser pulses at 3.9 μm allows one to generate ultrashort sub-cycle THz pulses with sub-milijoule energy and THz conversion efficiency of 2.36%, resulting in THz field amplitudes above 100 MV cm−1. Our numerical simulations predict that the observed THz yield can be significantly upscaled by further optimizing the experimental setup. Finally, in order to demonstrate the strength of our THz source, we show that the generated THz pulses are powerful enough to induce nonlinear cross-phase modulation in electro-optic crystals. Our work paves the way toward free space extreme nonlinear THz optics using affordable table-top laser systems., Powerful terahertz pulses are generated during the nonlinear propagation of ultrashort laser pulses in gases. Here, the authors demonstrate efficient sub-cycle THz pulse generation by using two-color midinfrared femtosecond laser filaments in ambient air.

We present the experimental demonstration of a subpicosecond all-optical THz switch based on three-dimensional (3D) terahertz meta-atoms. Combining a special design of 3D meta-devices and the ultrafast dynamics of low temperature grown gallium arsenide, we can modulate the reflectance of the THz microcavities within 2.2 ps. The device enables a 280 GHz switch in resonance frequency within less than 200 fs. The switch back to the original resonance takes 800 fs. Experimental results show that the speed values are strongly convoluted by the THz probing field and, thus, the real switching times are even shorter, in the few 100 fs range.

Generation and application of energetic, broadband terahertz pulses (bandwidth ~0.1–50 THz) is an active and contemporary area of research. The main thrust is toward the development of efficient sources with minimum complexities—a true table-top setup. In this work, we demonstrate the generation of terahertz radiation via ultrashort pulse induced filamentation in liquids—a counterintuitive observation due to their large absorption coefficient in the terahertz regime. The generated terahertz energy is more than an order of magnitude higher than that obtained from the two-color filamentation of air (the most standard table-top technique). Such high terahertz energies would generate electric fields of the order of MV cm-1, which opens the doors for various nonlinear terahertz spectroscopic applications. The counterintuitive phenomenon has been explained via the solution of nonlinear pulse propagation equation in the liquid medium., Developing simple and efficient table-top sources of intense terahertz radiation is an ongoing pursuit. Here, Dey et al. demonstrate broadband terahertz generation from laser filamentation in liquids with an order of magnitude higher energy than from conventional two-color filamentation in air.

We present an experimental demonstration and interpretation of an ultrafast optically tunable, graphene-based thin film absorption modulator for operation in the THz regime. The graphene-based component consists of a uniform CVD-grown graphene sheet stacked on an SU-8 dielectric substrate that is grounded by a metallic ground plate. The structure shows enhanced absorption originating from constructive interference of the impinging and reflected waves at the absorbing graphene sheet. The modulation of this absorption, which is demonstrated via a THz time-domain spectroscopy setup, is achieved by applying an optical pump signal, which modifies the conductivity of the graphene sheet. We report an ultrafast (on the order of few ps) absorption modulation on the order of 40% upon photoexcitation. Our results provide evidence that the optical pump excitation results in the degradation of the graphene THz conductivity, which is connected with the generation of hot carriers, the increase of the electronic temperature, and the dominant increase of the scattering rate over the carrier concentration as found in highly doped samples.

Two-color filamenation in gases is known to produce intense and broadband THz radiation. There are two physical mechanisms responsible for the THz generation in this scheme: four-wave mixing and emission from the induced plasma currents. The case when the main and second harmonic are linearly polarized is well studied including the impact from each of the above mechanisms. However, for the cases when the two-color fields have complex polarization states the role of the four-wave mixing and plasma mechanisms in the formation of the THz polarization is still under-explored. Here we use both the four-wave mixing and photocurrent models in order to consider the THz generation by two-color fields with arbitrary polarizations. We show that under specific polarizations of the two-color field components it is possible to determine which of the mechanisms is responsible for the THz polarization formation.