New wave: JILA develops efficient source of terahertz radiation

New wave: JILA develops efficient source of terahertz radiation: The JILA technology, described in Optics Letters, is a new twist on a common terahertz source, a semiconductor surface patterned with metal electrodes and excited by ultrafast laser pulses. An electric field is applied across the semiconductor while near-infrared pulses lasting about 70 femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a second), produced 89 million times per second, dislodge electrons from the semiconductor. The electrons accelerate in the electric field and emit waves of terahertz radiation.