Temperature dependence of THz generation efficiency, THz refractive index, and THz absorption in lithium-niobate around 275 GHz

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate the capabilities of the pulse train excitation approach in determining key material properties of nonlinear crystals, such as refractive index, thermo-optic coefficient, and absorption. The method provides reliable results even at relatively low THz frequencies, where other characterization methods, such as THz time-domain spectroscopy, have difficulties. To illustrate the capabilities of our approach, we used pulse trains with 800-fs long pulses and adjustable time delay to investigate the material properties of periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal with a poling period of 400 µm. Via scanning the incident pulse-train frequency, we measured the frequency response of the crystal at different temperatures (78-350 K), which enabled us to determine the temperature dependence of the refractive index and thermo-optic coefficient of the PPLN crystal around 275 GHz with very high precision. We further studied the variation of THz generation efficiency with temperature in detail to understand the temperature dependence of THz absorption in PPLN material. The technique employed is quite general and could be applied to both other frequency ranges and nonlinear crystals.