A simple and straightforward technique for single shot measurement of terahertz profile

Abstract: A new detection scheme capable of acquiring the entire spatiotemporal profile of terahertz radiation in a single laser shot is being demonstrated. The design allows temporal resolution of the order of transform-limited pulse duration of the probe, which is an absolute benefit over the compromised resolution of otherwise prevalent single-shot detection schemes based on spectral encoding of terahertz waveform on a temporally chirped readout pulse. This makes the technique perfectly suitable for sensitive spectroscopy studies. The single shot detection technique presented here relies on space-to-time mapping of terahertz temporal profile by use of a converging probe intensity front. The present approach does not require any specialized optics and is implemented using very straightforward alignment procedure. It has shown to reproduce the temporal waveform of terahertz radiation faithfully.