2023/09/08 by Yicheng Wang, Wang, Yicheng, Tim Vogel +13 · 2 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies #FOS: Physical sciences #Optics (physics.optics) #Solid State Laser Technologies #Terahertz technology and applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2309.04189
openalex publication_date 2023/09/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Ultrafast laser driven, single-cycle THz pulsed sources hold immense potential for scientific and industrial applications; however, their limited average power hinders their widespread application. In particular, applications where high repetition rates in the multi-MHz region and beyond are required are more severely affected, due to the lower pulse energies available for frequency conversion. In this respect, resonant enhancement both in passive and active resonators is a well-known technique for boosting the efficiency of nonlinear frequency conversion; however, this route has remained poorly explored for the generation of broadband THz pulses due to the inadequacy of typically employed nonlinear crystals. Here, we demonstrate that thin lithium niobate crystals used intracavity of multimode diode-pumped mode-locked thin-disk lasers are a promising platform to circumvent these difficulties. Using a 50-μm thin lithium niobate plate intracavity of a compact high-power mode-locked thin-disk laser, we generate milliwatt-level broadband THz pulses with a spectrum extending up to 3 THz at 44.8 MHz repetition rate, driven by 264 W of intracavity average power. This approach opens the door to efficient high-power single-cycle THz generation using affordable nonlinear crystals at very high repetition rates, scalable to kilowatt-level driving power with low cost and complexity.