THz Induced Nonlinear Effects in Materials at Intensities above 26 GW/cm2

Abstract

Nonlinear refractive index and absorption coefficient are measured for common semiconductor material such as silicon and organic molecule such as lactose in the terahertz (THz) spectral regime extending from 0.1 to 3 THz. Terahertz pulses with field strengths in excess of 4.4 MV/cm have been employed. Transmittance and the transmitted spectrum were measured with Z-scan and single shot noncollinear electro-optic pump-probe techniques. The THz-induced change in the refractive index (Δn) shows frequency-dependence and a maximum change of $-~0.128$ at 1.37 THz in lactose and up to $+~0.169$ at 0.15 THz in silicon was measured for a peak incident THz intensity of 26 GW/cm2. Furthermore, the refractive index variation shows a quadratic dependence on the incident THz field, implying the dominance of third-order nonlinearity.