Optimal chirped probe pulse length for terahertz pulse measurement

A detailed analysis of the relationship between the duration of the chirped probe pulse and the bipolar terahertz (THz) pulse length in the spectral encoding technique is carried out. We prove that there is an optimal chirped probe pulse length (or an optimal chirp rate of the chirped probe pulse) matched to the input THz pulse length and derive a rigorous relationship between them. We find that only under this restricted condition the THz signal can be correctly retrieved. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.