Temperature Dependent Terahertz Generation at Periodically Poled Stoichiometric Lithium Tantalate Crystal Using Femtosecond Laser Pulses

Abstract

Coherent tunable terahertz generation was demonstrated in periodically poled stoichiometric lithium tantalate crystal via difference frequency generation of femtosecond laser pulses. Simultaneous forward and backward terahertz radiations were obtained around 1.35 and 0.63 THz, respectively at low temperature. By cooling the crystal to reduce losses caused by phonon absorptions, the generated THz bandwidth was as narrow as 23GHz at the center frequency of 0.63 THz. The measurement result of temperature-dependent showed gradual intensity increase of the generated terahertz pulse and red shift of the center frequency as the temperature decrease from 291 to 143 K, but insignificant reduction of the spectral bandwidth. Furthermore, the stoichiometric crystal was very suitable for the suppression of THz loss at low temperature compared to the congruent LiNbO3 crystal.