Abstract

We report the use of an electro-optic field sensor to characterize freely propagating terahertz beams with sub picosecond temporal resolution and sub-m V sensitivity. In contrast to resonant photo-conductive dipole antennas, free-space electro-optic sampling via the linear electro-optic effect (Pockels effect) offers a flat frequency response over an ultrawide bandwidth. One of the major advantages is the measurement will provide a simple cross-correlation signal of the terahertz and optical pulses with both phase and amplitude information. We detect the freely propagating pulsed electric field with a frequency range up to 2 THz and field sensitivity on mV/cm √Hz.

© 1996 Optical Society of America