Methodical inaccuracy of the Z-scan method for few-cycle terahertz pulses

Characterization of broadband few-cycle laser pulses with the d-scan technique.

We present an analysis and demonstration of few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse characterization using second-harmonic dispersion scans and numerical phase retrieval algorithms. The sensitivity and robustness of this technique with respect to noise, measurement bandwidth and complexity of the measured pulses is discussed through numerical examples and experimental results. Using this technique, we...

Polarization shaping of few-cycle terahertz waves.

We present a polarization shaping technique for few-cycle terahertz (THz) waves. For this, N femtosecond laser pulses are generated from a devised diffractive optical system made of as-many glass wedges, which then simultaneously illuminate on various angular positions of a sub-wavelength circular pattern of an indium arsenide thin film, to produce a THz wave of tailor-made polarization state g...

Controlling H- detachment with few-cycle pulses

The interaction of excited atoms and few-cycle laser pulses

This work describes the first observations of the ionisation of neon in a metastable atomic state utilising a strong-field, few-cycle light pulse. We compare the observations to theoretical predictions based on the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov (ADK) theory and a solution to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE). The TDSE provides better agreement with the experimental data than the ADK theor...

Optical tunneling of single-cycle terahertz bandwidth pulses.

We report time-domain measurements with subpicosecond resolution of optical tunneling of terahertz electromagnetic pulses undergoing frustrated total internal reflection. Measurements of the transmitted electromagnetic pulses over a 3 THz bandwidth permits direct determination of frequency-dependent phase and amplitude changes in both the thin and opaque barrier limits in a single measurement. ...