Two-color mid-infrared laser filaments produce terahertz pulses with extreme efficiency

Despite the rapid development of terahertz (THz) science during the last two decades, the majority of available THz sources remains rather weak, limiting the interactions of THz radiation with matter mostly in the realm of linear optics. Development of powerful THz sources will open the way to many exciting applications spanning from switching and controlling of magnetic domains to THz-enhanced attosecond pulse generation [1,2].