Optimum excitation conditions for the generation of high-electric-field terahertz radiation from an oscillator-driven photoconductive device

We report the impulsive generation of terahertz (THz) radiation with a field amplitude of more than 1.5 kV/cm at megahertz repetition rates, using an interdigitated photoconducting device. The approach provides an average THz power of 190 mu W, corresponding to an optical-to-THz conversion efficiency of 2.5 X 10(-4). Optimum conditions are achieved when the excitation spot size is of the order of the THz wavelength. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.