Skip to main content

Cerenkov radiation from femtosecond optical pulses in electro- optic media.

01 January 1984

New Image

The propagation of femtosecond duration optical pulses in electro- optic materials is observed to produce a Cerenkov cone of pulsed far-infrared radiation in the terahertz spectral range. The direct detection of the electric field of this pulse by electro- optic sampling shows it to have a duration of approximately one cycle and an amplitude which makes it a potentially attractive source for transient far-infrared spectroscopy.