We demonstrate the use of optical pulse-shaping technique in conjunction with difference frequency generation in a non-linear optoelectronic crystal for generating synthesized waveforms at terahertz frequencies. Spectral phase modulations, programmed using Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm and prepared in a spatial light Fourier filter, produce tailored terahertz pulses, including chirped pulses, zero-area pulses, and trains of multiple pulses for tunable narrow-band terahertz radiation up to 2.0 THz.

© 2003 Optical Society of America

1. J. M. Chamberlain, and R. E. Miles, New Directions in Terahertz Technology (NATO Asi Series. Series E, Applied Sciences, Vol 334), (Boston, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997).
2. L. Xu, X.-C. Zhang, and D. H. Auston, �??Terahertz beam generation by femtosecond optical pulses in eletro-optic materials,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 61, 1784-1786 (1992). [CrossRef]
3. D. You, R. R. Jones, D. R. Dykaar, and P. H. Bucksbaum, �??Generation of High-Power Half-Cycle 500 Femtosecond Electromagnetic Pulses,�?? Opt. Lett. 18, 290 (1993). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
4. R. Huber, A. Brodschelm, F. Tauser, and A. Leitenstorfer, �??Generation and field-resolved detection of femtosecond electromagnetic pulses tunable up to 41 THz,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 3191-93 (2000). [CrossRef]
5. C. Winnewisser, P. Uhd Jepson, M. Schall, V. Schyja, and H. Helm, �??Electro-optic detection of THz radiation in LiTaO3, LiNbO3, and ZnTe,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, 3069 (1997). [CrossRef]
6. Q. Chen, and X.-C. Zhang, �??Polarization modulation in optoelectronic generation and detection of terahertz baams,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 3435 (1999). [CrossRef]
7. B. E. Cole, J. B. Willams, B. T. King, M. S. Sherwin, C. R. Stanley, �??Coherent manipulation of semiconductor quantum bits with terahertz information,�?? Nature 410, 60 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
8. R. Huber, F. Tauser, A. Brodschelm, M. Bichler, G. Abstreiter, and A. Leitenstorfer, �??How many-particle intersactions develop after ultrafast excitation of an electron-hole plasma,�?? Nature 414, 289 (2001). [CrossRef]
9. D. M. Mittleman, M. Gupta, R. Neelamani, R. G. Baraniuk, J. V. Rudd, and M. Kock, �??Recent Advances in terahertz imaging,�?? Appl. Phys. B 68, 1085-1094 (1999). [CrossRef]
10. D. G. Tilley, and D. J. Yemc, �??Wave domain processing of synthetic aperture radar signals,�?? Johns Hopkins APL technical Digest 15, 224-36 (1994).
11. J. Ahn, D. N. Hutchinson, C. Rangan, and P. H. Bucksbaum, �??Quantum phase retrieval of a Rydberg wave packet using a half-cycle pulse,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 1179-82 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
12. Y. Nakamura, Yu. A. Pashkin, and J. S. Tsai, �??Coherent control of macroscopic quantum states in a single-Cooper-pair box,�?? Nature 398, 786-788 (1999). [CrossRef]
13. C. W. Siders, J. L. W. Siders, A. J. Taylor, S.-G. Park, and A. M. Weiner, �??Efficient high-energy pulse-train generation using a 2n-pulse Michelson interferometer,�?? Appl. Opt. 37, 5302 (1998). [CrossRef]
14. A. M. Weiner, �??Femtosecond pulse shaping using spatial light modulators,�?? Rev. Sci. Instru. 71, 1929 (2000) [CrossRef]
15. R. Trebino, K. W. DeLong, D. N. Fittinghoff, J. N. Sweetser, M. A. Krumbugel, B. A. Richman, D. J. Kane, �??Measuring ultrashort laser pulses in the time-frequency domain using frequency-resolved optical gating,�?? Rev. Sci. Instru. 68, 3277-95 (1997). [CrossRef]
16. Y. Liu, S.-G. Park, and A. M.Weiner, �??Terahertz waveform synthesis via optical pulse shaping,�?? IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 2, 709 (1996). [CrossRef]
17. S.-G. Park, A. M. Weiner, M. R. Melloch, C. W. SIder, J. L. Sider, and A. J. Taylor, �??High-power narrow-band terahertz generation using large-aperture photoconductors,�?? IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 35, 1257-68 (1999). [CrossRef]
18. . G. Gallot and D. Grischkowsky, �??Electro-optic detection of terahertz radiation,�?? J. Opt. Soc. America B 16, 1204-1212 (1999). [CrossRef]
19. J.-P. Caumes, L. Videau, C. Rouyer, and E. Freysz, �??Kerr-Like nonlinearity induced via terahertz generation and the elctro-optical effect in Zinc blend crystals�??, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 047401 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
20. . A. Nahata, A. S. Weling, and T. F. Heinz, �??A windeband coherent terhaertz spectroscopy system using optical rectification and electro-optic sampling,�?? Apl. Phys. Lett. 69, 2321 (1996). [CrossRef]
21. .R. W. Gerchberg and W. O. Saxton, �??Phase determination from image and diffraction plane pictures in the electron microscope,�?? Optik 35, 237-246 (1972).
22. A. Rundquist, A. V. Efimov, and D. H. Reitze, �??Pulse shaping with the Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm,�?? J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 19, 2468 (2002). [CrossRef]
23. Y.-S. Lee, N. Amer, and W. C. Hurlbut, �??Terahertz pulse shaping via optical rectification in poled lithium niobate,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 170 (2003). [CrossRef]
24. J. Y. Sohn, Y. H. Ahn, D. J. Park, E. Oh, and D. S. Kim, �??Tunable terahertz generation using femtosecond pulse shaping,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 13 (2002). [CrossRef]
25. Our GaAs data is consistent with the spectral tunning data shown in Fig. 8 of Ref. [16].
26. C. W. Siders, J. L. W. Siders, A. J. Taylor, S.-G. Park, M. R. Mellock, and A. M. Weiner, �??Generation and characterization of terahertz pulse trains from biased, large-aperture photoconductors,�?? Opt. Letter 24, 241 (1999). [CrossRef]
27. Y.-S. Lee, T. Meade, T. B. Norris, and A. Galvanauskas, �??Tunable narrow-band terahertz generation from periodically poled lithium niobate,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 3583 (2001). [CrossRef]

Apl. Phys. Lett.

• . A. Nahata, A. S. Weling, and T. F. Heinz, �??A windeband coherent terhaertz spectroscopy system using optical rectification and electro-optic sampling,�?? Apl. Phys. Lett. 69, 2321 (1996). [CrossRef]

Appl. Opt

• C. W. Siders, J. L. W. Siders, A. J. Taylor, S.-G. Park, and A. M. Weiner, �??Efficient high-energy pulse-train generation using a 2n-pulse Michelson interferometer,�?? Appl. Opt. 37, 5302 (1998). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. B

• D. M. Mittleman, M. Gupta, R. Neelamani, R. G. Baraniuk, J. V. Rudd, and M. Kock, �??Recent Advances in terahertz imaging,�?? Appl. Phys. B 68, 1085-1094 (1999). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. Lett

• Y.-S. Lee, T. Meade, T. B. Norris, and A. Galvanauskas, �??Tunable narrow-band terahertz generation from periodically poled lithium niobate,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 3583 (2001). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. Lett.

• Y.-S. Lee, N. Amer, and W. C. Hurlbut, �??Terahertz pulse shaping via optical rectification in poled lithium niobate,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 170 (2003). [CrossRef]
• J. Y. Sohn, Y. H. Ahn, D. J. Park, E. Oh, and D. S. Kim, �??Tunable terahertz generation using femtosecond pulse shaping,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 13 (2002). [CrossRef]
• L. Xu, X.-C. Zhang, and D. H. Auston, �??Terahertz beam generation by femtosecond optical pulses in eletro-optic materials,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 61, 1784-1786 (1992). [CrossRef]
• R. Huber, A. Brodschelm, F. Tauser, and A. Leitenstorfer, �??Generation and field-resolved detection of femtosecond electromagnetic pulses tunable up to 41 THz,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 3191-93 (2000). [CrossRef]
• C. Winnewisser, P. Uhd Jepson, M. Schall, V. Schyja, and H. Helm, �??Electro-optic detection of THz radiation in LiTaO3, LiNbO3, and ZnTe,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, 3069 (1997). [CrossRef]
• Q. Chen, and X.-C. Zhang, �??Polarization modulation in optoelectronic generation and detection of terahertz baams,�?? Appl. Phys. Lett. 74, 3435 (1999). [CrossRef]

Applied Sciences

• J. M. Chamberlain, and R. E. Miles, New Directions in Terahertz Technology (NATO Asi Series. Series E, Applied Sciences, Vol 334), (Boston, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997).

IEEE J. Quantum Electron

• S.-G. Park, A. M. Weiner, M. R. Melloch, C. W. SIder, J. L. Sider, and A. J. Taylor, �??High-power narrow-band terahertz generation using large-aperture photoconductors,�?? IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 35, 1257-68 (1999). [CrossRef]

IEEE J. Quantum Electron.

• Y. Liu, S.-G. Park, and A. M.Weiner, �??Terahertz waveform synthesis via optical pulse shaping,�?? IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 2, 709 (1996). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. Am. B

• A. Rundquist, A. V. Efimov, and D. H. Reitze, �??Pulse shaping with the Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm,�?? J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 19, 2468 (2002). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. America B

• . G. Gallot and D. Grischkowsky, �??Electro-optic detection of terahertz radiation,�?? J. Opt. Soc. America B 16, 1204-1212 (1999). [CrossRef]

Johns Hopkins APL technical Digest

• D. G. Tilley, and D. J. Yemc, �??Wave domain processing of synthetic aperture radar signals,�?? Johns Hopkins APL technical Digest 15, 224-36 (1994).

Nature

• B. E. Cole, J. B. Willams, B. T. King, M. S. Sherwin, C. R. Stanley, �??Coherent manipulation of semiconductor quantum bits with terahertz information,�?? Nature 410, 60 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• R. Huber, F. Tauser, A. Brodschelm, M. Bichler, G. Abstreiter, and A. Leitenstorfer, �??How many-particle intersactions develop after ultrafast excitation of an electron-hole plasma,�?? Nature 414, 289 (2001). [CrossRef]
• Y. Nakamura, Yu. A. Pashkin, and J. S. Tsai, �??Coherent control of macroscopic quantum states in a single-Cooper-pair box,�?? Nature 398, 786-788 (1999). [CrossRef]

Opt. Lett.

• D. You, R. R. Jones, D. R. Dykaar, and P. H. Bucksbaum, �??Generation of High-Power Half-Cycle 500 Femtosecond Electromagnetic Pulses,�?? Opt. Lett. 18, 290 (1993). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Letter

• C. W. Siders, J. L. W. Siders, A. J. Taylor, S.-G. Park, M. R. Mellock, and A. M. Weiner, �??Generation and characterization of terahertz pulse trains from biased, large-aperture photoconductors,�?? Opt. Letter 24, 241 (1999). [CrossRef]

Optik

• .R. W. Gerchberg and W. O. Saxton, �??Phase determination from image and diffraction plane pictures in the electron microscope,�?? Optik 35, 237-246 (1972).

Phys. Rev. Lett

• J.-P. Caumes, L. Videau, C. Rouyer, and E. Freysz, �??Kerr-Like nonlinearity induced via terahertz generation and the elctro-optical effect in Zinc blend crystals�??, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 047401 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• J. Ahn, D. N. Hutchinson, C. Rangan, and P. H. Bucksbaum, �??Quantum phase retrieval of a Rydberg wave packet using a half-cycle pulse,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 1179-82 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Rev. Sci. Instru

• A. M. Weiner, �??Femtosecond pulse shaping using spatial light modulators,�?? Rev. Sci. Instru. 71, 1929 (2000) [CrossRef]

Rev. Sci. Instru.

• R. Trebino, K. W. DeLong, D. N. Fittinghoff, J. N. Sweetser, M. A. Krumbugel, B. A. Richman, D. J. Kane, �??Measuring ultrashort laser pulses in the time-frequency domain using frequency-resolved optical gating,�?? Rev. Sci. Instru. 68, 3277-95 (1997). [CrossRef]

Other

• Our GaAs data is consistent with the spectral tunning data shown in Fig. 8 of Ref. [16].

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