Highly sensitive detection of broadband terahertz waves using aqueous salt solutions

Abstract

Water-based coherent detection of broadband terahertz (THz) wave has been recently proposed with superior performances, which can alleviate the limited detection bandwidth and high probe laser energy requirement in the solid- and air-based detection schemes, respectively. Here, we demonstrate that the water-based detection method can be extended to the aqueous salt solutions and the sensitivity can be significantly enhanced. The THz coherent detection signal intensity scales linearly with the third-order nonlinear susceptibility χ(3) or quadratically with the linear refractive index η0 of the aqueous salt solutions, while the incoherent detection signal intensity scales quadratically with χ(3) or quartically with η0, proving the underlying mechanism is the four-wave mixing. Both the coherent and incoherent detection signal intensities appear positive correlation with the solution concentration. These results imply that the liquid-based THz detection scheme could provide a new technique to measure χ(3) and further investigate the physicochemical properties in the THz band for various liquids.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Oct 07, 2022
Source ID
10.1364/oe.472753

Entities

People

  • Cun-lin Zhang
  • Liangliang Zhang
  • Ming-hao Zhang
  • Rui Zhang
  • Wei-Min Wang
  • Wen Xiao
  • Xi-Cheng Zhang

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Capital Normal University
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China
  • National Science Foundation
  • Renmin University of China
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  • University of Rochester

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Oncology and Biomarker-Based Cancer Detection.
  • Radio communications and signal processing.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy