Tunable near- to mid-infrared pump terahertz probe spectroscopy in reflection geometry

Abstract

Strong-field mid-infrared pump–terahertz (THz) probe spectroscopy has been proven as a powerful tool for light control of different orders in strongly correlated materials. We report the construction of an ultrafast broadband infrared pump–THz probe system in reflection geometry. A two-output optical parametric amplifier is used for generating mid-infrared pulses with GaSe as the nonlinear crystal. The setup is capable of pumping bulk materials at wavelengths ranging from 1.2 μm to 15 μm and beyond, and detecting the subtle, transient photoinduced changes in the reflected electric field of the THz probe at different temperatures. As a demonstration, we present 15 μm pump–THz probe measurements of a bulk EuSbTe3 single crystal. A 0:5% transient change in the reflected THz electric field can be clearly resolved. The widely tuned pumping energy could be used in mode-selective excitation experiments and applied to many strongly correlated electron systems.