THz Generation and Detection by Fluorenone Based Organic Crystals

M Savoini and L Huber and H Cuppen and E Abreu and M Kubli and MJ Neugebauer and YL Duan and P Beaud and JL Xu and T Rasing and SL Johnson, ACS PHOTONICS, 5, 671-677 (2018).

DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.7b00792

Direct study and control of material properties using terahertz (THz) frequency pulses is an emerging subject with strong potential for future applications. One aspect of the development of THz-based techniques is the search for new materials that can efficiently convert higher frequency light into the THz-frequency range and serve to detect and characterize weak THz radiation with high sensitivity. Here, the capabilities of a new class of THz generators and detectors based on diphenylfluorenone (DPFO) crystals are explored. We demonstrate that DPFO crystals have an extremely large electro-optical coefficients centered at around f approximate to 1.5 THz which makes them ideal for THz detection at this frequency. Excitation with intense femtosecond near-infrared pulses leads to emission of narrow-band (Delta f/f approximate to 20%) THz radiation near 1.5 THz. This frequency range does not overlap significantly with water vapor absorption lines, which allows for practical applications under ambient conditions.

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