Generation and detection of tunable phonon polaritons using a single transmission grating

Frequency tunable phonon polariton waves were generated and detected using an original optical configuration of the transient grating method. In this technique, the excitation beam was shone onto a transmission grating after being transmitted through a lens, and a lithium niobate wafer located at a defocus position of the lens was irradiated by an expanded or reduced image of the transmission grating, causing excitation of phonon polaritons. Because the magnification of the light intensity pattern can be controlled by the sample-grating distance, the wavelength of the phonon polaritons, which is equal to the optical fringe spacing, can be continuously varied.