Full control of the ellipticity of broadband pulses of THz radiation, from linear to left- or right-handed circular polarization, was demonstrated via a four-pixel photoconductive emitter with an integrated achromatic waveplate. Excellent polarization purity and accuracy were achieved, with Stokes parameters exceeding 97% for linear and circular polarization, via a robust scheme that corrected electrically for polarization changes caused by imperfect optical elements. Furthermore, to assess the speed and precision of measurements of the THz polarization, we introduced a figure of merit, the standard error after one second of measurement, found to be 0.047° for the polarization angle.
References
1.
T.
Nagashima
, M.
Tani
, and M.
Hangyo
, “Polarization-sensitive THz-TDS and its application to anisotropy sensing
,” J. Infrared, Millimeter, Terahertz Waves
34
, 740
–775
(2013
).2.
J.
Lloyd-Hughes
, S. P. P.
Jones
, E.
Castro-Camus
, K. I.
Doig
, and J. L.
MacManus-Driscoll
, “Modifying the polarization state of terahertz radiation using anisotropic twin-domains in LaAlO3
,” Opt. Lett.
39
, 1121
(2014
).3.
C. D.
Mosley
, M.
Failla
, D.
Prabhakaran
, and J.
Lloyd-Hughes
, “Terahertz spectroscopy of anisotropic materials using beams with rotatable polarization
,” Sci. Rep.
7
, 12337
(2017
).4.
M.
Failla
, J.
Keller
, G.
Scalari
, C.
Maissen
, J.
Faist
, C.
Reichl
, W.
Wegscheider
, O. J.
Newell
, D. R.
Leadley
, M.
Myronov
, and J.
Lloyd-Hughes
, “Terahertz quantum Hall effect for spin-split heavy-hole gases in strained Ge quantum wells
,” New J. Phys.
18
, 113036
(2016
).5.
S.
Watanabe
, “Terahertz polarization imaging and its applications
,” Photonics
5
, 58
(2018
).6.
M. B.
Johnston
, D. M.
Whittaker
, A.
Corchia
, A. G.
Davies
, and E. H.
Linfield
, “Theory of magnetic-field enhancement of surface-field terahertz emission
,” J. Appl. Phys.
91
, 2104
–2106
(2002
).7.
E.
Castro-Camus
, “Polarization-resolved terahertz time-domain spectroscopy
,” J. Infrared, Millimeter, Terahertz Waves
33
, 418
–430
(2012
).8.
N.
Amer
, W. C.
Hurlbut
, B. J.
Norton
, Y.-S.
Lee
, and T. B.
Norris
, “Generation of terahertz pulses with arbitrary elliptical polarization
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
87
, 221111
(2005
).9.
K.
Lee
, M.
Yi
, J. D.
Song
, and J.
Ahn
, “Polarization shaping of few-cycle terahertz waves
,” Opt. Express
20
, 12463
(2012
).10.
X.
Chen
, X.
Wu
, S.
Shan
, F.
Guo
, D.
Kong
, C.
Wang
, T.
Nie
, C.
Pandey
, L.
Wen
, W.
Zhao
, C.
Ruan
, J.
Miao
, Y.
Li
, and L.
Wang
, “Generation and manipulation of chiral broadband terahertz waves from cascade spintronic terahertz emitters
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
115
, 221104
(2019
).11.
M.
Sato
, T.
Higuchi
, N.
Kanda
, K.
Konishi
, K.
Yoshioka
, T.
Suzuki
, K.
Misawa
, and M.
Kuwata-Gonokami
, “Terahertz polarization pulse shaping with arbitrary field control
,” Nat. Photonics
7
, 724
–731
(2013
).12.
X.
Lu
and X.-C.
Zhang
, “Generation of elliptically polarized terahertz waves from laser-induced plasma with double helix electrodes
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
108
, 123903
(2012
).13.
Z.
Zhang
, Y.
Chen
, S.
Cui
, F.
He
, M.
Chen
, Z.
Zhang
, J.
Yu
, L.
Chen
, Z.
Sheng
, and J.
Zhang
, “Manipulation of polarizations for broadband terahertz waves emitted from laser plasma filaments
,” Nat. Photonics
12
, 554
–559
(2018
).14.
J.-B.
Masson
and G.
Gallot
, “Terahertz achromatic quarter-wave plate
,” Opt. Lett.
31
, 265
(2006
).15.
Y.
Hirota
, R.
Hattori
, M.
Tani
, and M.
Hangyo
, “Polarization modulation of terahertz electromagnetic radiation by four-contact photoconductive antenna
,” Opt. Express
14
, 4486
(2006
).16.
Y.
Kawada
, T.
Yasuda
, A.
Nakanishi
, K.
Akiyama
, K.
Hakamata
, and H.
Takahashi
, “Achromatic prism-type wave plate for broadband terahertz pulses
,” Opt. Lett.
39
, 2794
(2014
).17.
A.
Dreyhaupt
, S.
Winnerl
, T.
Dekorsy
, and M.
Helm
, “High-intensity terahertz radiation from a microstructured large-area photoconductor
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
86
, 121114
(2005
).18.
M.
Beck
, H.
Schafer
, G.
Klatt
, J.
Demsar
, S.
Winnerl
, M.
Helm
, and T.
Dekorsy
, “Impulsive terahertz radiation with high electric fields from an amplifier-driven large-area photoconductive antenna
,” Opt. Express
18
, 9251
(2010
).19.
A.
Singh
, H.
Schneider
, M.
Welsch
, M.
Helm
, and S.
Winnerl
, “Improved electrode design for interdigitated large-area photoconductive terahertz emitters
,” Opt. Express
27
(9
), 13108
–13115
(2019
).20.
C. D.
Mosley
, M.
Staniforth
, A. I.
Serrano
, E.
Pickwell-Macpherson
, and J.
Lloyd-Hughes
, “Scalable interdigitated photoconductive emitters for the electrical modulation of terahertz beams with arbitrary linear polarization
,” AIP Adv.
9
, 045323
(2019
).21.
K.
Maussang
, J.
Palomo
, J.
Mangeney
, S. S.
Dhillon
, and J.
Tignon
, “Large-area photoconductive switches as emitters of terahertz pulses with fully electrically controlled linear polarization
,” Opt. Express
27
, 14784
(2019
).22.
N. C. J.
van der Valk
, W. A. M.
van der Marel
, and P. C. M.
Planken
, “Terahertz polarization imaging
,” Opt. Lett.
30
, 2802
(2005
).23.
N.
Yasumatsu
and S.
Watanabe
, “Precise real-time polarization measurement of terahertz electromagnetic waves by a spinning electro-optic sensor
,” Rev. Sci. Instrum.
83
, 023104
(2012
).24.
N.
Nemoto
, T.
Higuchi
, N.
Kanda
, K.
Konishi
, and M.
Kuwata-Gonokami
, “Highly precise and accurate terahertz polarization measurements based on electro-optic sampling with polarization modulation of probe pulses
,” Opt. Express
22
, 17915
(2014
).25.
K.
Xu
, E.
Bayati
, K.
Oguchi
, S.
Watanabe
, D. P.
Winebrenner
, and M.
Hassan Arbab
, “Terahertz time-domain polarimetry (THz-TDP) based on the spinning E-O sampling technique: determination of precision and calibration
,” Opt. Express
28
, 13482
(2020
).26.
K.
Peng
, D.
Jevtics
, F.
Zhang
, S.
Sterzl
, D. A.
Damry
, M. U.
Rothmann
, B.
Guilhabert
, M. J.
Strain
, H. H.
Tan
, L. M.
Herz
, L.
Fu
, M. D.
Dawson
, A.
Hurtado
, C.
Jagadish
, and M. B.
Johnston
, “Three-dimensional cross-nanowire networks recover full terahertz state
,” Science
368
, 510
–513
(2020
).© 2021 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.
2021
Author(s)
You do not currently have access to this content.