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Brewster-Angle Attenuator for THz Pulses

Published

Author(s)

A G. VanEngen Spivey, S T. Cundiff

Abstract

A variable attenuator for terahertz (THz) pulses is developed on the based of the change in reflectivity of lithium niobate wafers with incident angle in a Brewster configuration. We can vary the THz field transmission from 22% to 54%, a change of a factor of 2.5 while preserving the shape of the THz pulse spectrum. Changes in the THz spectrum are shown to be much smaller when the Brewster attenuator is used than when either the near-infrared pump power or the bias voltage on a THz photoconductive antenna is varied. The Brewster attenuator should prove especially useful for varying the THz field in nonlinear optical studies that use broadband THz pulses.
Citation
Applied Optics
Volume
41

Keywords

attenuator, lithium niobate, terahertz, ultrafast optics

Citation

VanEngen, A. and Cundiff, S. (2002), Brewster-Angle Attenuator for THz Pulses, Applied Optics (Accessed October 12, 2025)

Issues

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Created December 1, 2002, Updated February 17, 2017
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