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This article studies the generation of terahertz (THz) radiation in carbon dioxide ( ${\bf CO_2}$ ) at different levels of gas pressure. It was demonstrated that under low gas pressure, optical-terahertz conversion can be adequately described by a simplified photocurrent model. However, with the increase of gas pressure, the contribution of intra-atomic nonlinearities as a source of terahertz response irradiated by a two-color laser field is growing. Moreover, at high levels of gas pressure, the interference and dispersive effects should be taken into consideration as well. The proposed model allows for the optimization of experimental conditions aimed at flexible control of intensity and spectral properties of THz radiation.

A supersonic jet consisting of noble gas clusters is considered as a source of terahertz (THz) radiation pumped by high-power femtosecond laser system. We present the results of experimental studies on optimizing the intensity and diagram pattern of the THz radiation generated in cluster jet and demonstrate that under certain conditions of the jet excitation, it is possible to form a cluster filament that radiates THz waves with a maximum intensity along the direction of the laser beam propagation. Provided phenomenological model is in a good agreement with experimental results and well explains observed phenomenon.

We show that an individual droplet of liquid metal can be a source of coherent terahertz radiation when it is excited by two femtosecond laser pulses of the same frequency. Under certain delays between these pulses, the intensity of terahertz radiation increases by more than 3 orders of magnitude. We describe the experimental results with the model of dynamic gain control, which considers the interaction of both laser pulses with the droplet and explains the terahertz-generation process by taking into account the dynamics of electrons and ions after photoionization of the metal droplet. The spatial distribution of terahertz radiation has a forward-directed contribution, whose polarization properties are well described by a nonlinear susceptibility of the second order. Our theoretical estimations based on the experimental data show that under the dynamic gain control the observed terahertz output can be considerably increased. Joint generation of x-ray, ultraviolet, and, as shown in the present work, terahertz radiation allows one to forecast that a free-falling photoexcited droplet of liquid metal is a promising source of multifrequency electromagnetic radiation for extreme nonlinear laser science.

We showed that focusing of two sequential subpicosecond laser pulses on the surface of microdroplet metallic target can lead to the efficient broadband pulsed THz generation. We observed the significant role of delay between pulses and their relative energies on conversion efficiency. We measured experimentally large angular diagram of the THz radiation.

In this paper, we propose a switchable focuser device based on a Fresnel zone plate (FZP) structure for terahertz (THz) applications. Each FZP contains seven rings, etched in thin VO2 film with the designed focal lengths of 50 and 100 mm for 3.7-THz frequency. Temperature-induced VO2 phase transition leads to the change in dielectric susceptibility of the material, which allows one to switch on and off the focusing properties of the device. The devices were tested with radiation of 3.1 and 3.7 THz emitted by quantum cascade lasers. Experimental results were compared with numerical simulations. In this article, we compare the FZP based on VO2 films with different properties and show that a thicker VO2 film reveals higher focusing efficiency, while a thinner one reveals a higher modulation ratio for the peak intensity at the focal point of FZP. We demonstrate experimentally the near-diffraction-limited size of the beam in the focal point of the device. Switching between two phase states of the VO2 films results in up to the 38-fold change of intensity in the focal point.

A supersonic jet consisting of atomic clusters of noble gases under interaction with high-power femtosecond radiation allows control of the radiation pattern and efficiency of generation of terahertz (THz) radiation. The laser filament formed in this jet is spatially defined by the shape of the jet. The concentration, spatial distribution, and size of the clusters influence the propagation of the femtosecond laser pulse in it and the formation of a THz pulse. We show that a specially formed cluster jet allows the shaping of THz radiation with a high degree of directionality and increase its intensity by more than 10 times.

In this work we experimentally and theoretically investigate the mutual action of three copropagating waves in isotropic nonlinear medium (liquid nitrogen). Two waves are the first and the second harmonic of the Ti:Sa laser system, and the third one is the terahertz wave generated in the spark of optical breakdown of air. After propagation through liquid nitrogen the change in terahertz polarization state is observed. We attribute this phenomenon to the nonlinear “Terhune-like” mutual rotation of the main axis of a polarization ellipse of terahertz radiation.

In this work, we the study the possibility of controlling the temperature of ultrafast light induced insulator-metal phase transition in VO 2 films by photosensibilization with thin layer of organic dyes which can directly inject photoelectrons into the VO 2 film triggering a photoelectron-assisted phase transition.

In this work we investigate and compare the features of the THz generation process caused by an optical breakdown of air both in a “filament” and “micro-plasma” regimes. We explore efficiency, a spatial and spectral distributions of terahertz radiation in each case.

Measurement of the absolute value of the humidity of the cornea of the human eye and its dynamics is of paramount importance for the preservation of eyesight. In the present paper we have demonstrated that terahertz technologies can be practically applied for quantitative measurement of the physiological dynamics of tear film and sensing of corneal tissue hydration. We suggest uses of the equipment for application in clinics and a method for absolute calibration of the values for measurement. The proposed method is fundamentally different from existing and currently available methods of ophthalmological diagnosis. This suggests that the developed technique may have high diagnostic significance and can be used in the study and treatment of several diseases of the ocular surface.

Spatio-spectral distribution of THz radiation generated by two-color femtosecond laser breakdown in air is investigated theoretically. The theoretical model is based on the fast oscillating light field propagation and self-consistent free electron generation process. We find that the THz emission spectrum has both the low-frequency component related to the transient photocurrent with the maximum spectral intensity at ~1 THz, and the high-frequency component at ~10 THz related to the nonlinear response of bound electrons.

Generation of terahertz (THz) radiation was observed in epitaxial VO 2 films grown on R- and C-cut sapphire substrates above and below the metal-insulator phase transition temperature. Polarization analysis of the emitted THz radiation reveals strong in-plane anisotropy of the conductive phase of VO 2 which is not observed for insulating phase, generation efficiency increases up to 30 times after phase transition. Properties of generated THz radiation in VO 2 are defined by the displacement photocurrent at the film-air and film-substrate interfaces.