Terahertz Emission Enhanced by a Laser Irradiating on a T-Type Target

Abstract

The generation of high field terahertz emission based on the interaction between an ultra-intense laser and solid targets has been widely studied in recent years because of its wide potential applications in biological imaging and material science. Here, a novel scheme is proposed to enhance the terahertz emission, in which a linearly polarized laser pulse irradiates a T-type target including a longitudinal target followed by a transverse target. By using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we find that the electron beam, modulated by the direct laser acceleration via the interaction of the laser with the longitudinal solid target, plays a crucial role in enhancing the intensity of terahertz emission and controlling its spatial distribution. Compared with the single-layer target, the maximum radiated electromagnetic field’s intensity passing through the spatial probe point is enhanced by about one order of magnitude, corresponding to the terahertz emission power increasing by two orders of magnitude or so. In addition, the proposed scheme is robust with respect to the thickness and length of the target. Such a scheme may provide important theoretical and data support for the enhancement of terahertz emission efficiency based on the ultra-intense laser irradiation of solid targets.