High-speed terahertz time-domain polarimeter based on an electro-optic modulation technique

Abstract

We present a method of developing a high-speed terahertz time-domain polarimeter based on an electro-optic sampling setup, which consists of a rapid polarization analysis of the probe optical beam within 1 ms with an angular resolution of ∼100 mrad using an electro-optic modulator (EOM). A fast optical delay line enabled us to obtain the vector waveform of the terahertz pulse within 100 ms. The setup does not utilize a manual/mechanical rotational stage, but the use of the polarization modulation technique employing the EOM ensures a high-speed and high-accuracy measurement of the state of polarization of terahertz waves.