Causality-based method for determining the time origin in terahertz emission spectroscopy

We propose a method for determining the time origin on the basis of causality in terahertz (THz) emission spectroscopy. The method is formulated in terms of the singly subtractive Kramers-Kronig relation, which is useful for the situation where not only the amplitude spectrum but also partial phase information is available within the measurement frequency range. Numerical analysis of several simulated and observed THz emission data shows that the misplacement of the time origin in THz waveforms can be detected by the method with an accuracy that is an order of magnitude higher than the given temporal resolutions. (C)2011 Optical Society of America