Coded excitation of broadband terahertz using optical rectification in poled lithium niobate

We demonstrate coded excitation of broadband terahertz for imaging applications. The encoded transmitter uses optical rectification of femtosecond laser pulses in poled lithium niobate patterned with a 53-bit binary phase code. The terahertz wave forms are detected by electro-optic sampling in zinc telluride. A digital pulse compression filter decodes the binary wave forms, producing broadband pulses at 1.0 THz. A two-dimensional imaging experiment shows comparable performance between the encoded transmitter and a zinc telluride emitter. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.