Polarization-Dependent Optimization of Fiber-Coupled Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy System

Abstract

The optimization of the fiber-coupled terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system is performed by changing the polarization of the optical excitation pulse centered at 1550 nm. InGaAs/InAlAs multilayer structures based photoconductive antennas are used in TDS setup as both the emitter and receiver. The experimental results demonstrate that not only the THz signal power but also the temporal waveform vary with the rotation of the exciting pulse polarization. Maximum output power of the emitter is obtained when the polarization of the pump pulse is perpendicular to the edge of the metal electrodes. At this moment the THz waveform is close to a single-cycled pulse. However, double THz pulses could be recorded when the pump laser polarization is parallel to the electrodes. Laser pulse splitting induced by the birefringence of the optical fiber may attribute to the polarization-dependent performance of the fiber-coupled THz-TDS system.