Transition between metamaterial and photonic-crystal behavior in arrays of dielectric rods.

Using finite-difference time-domain simulations, we study the interactions of electromagnetic radiation with a square array of dielectric rods parallel to the electric vector. We observe the electric and magnetic Mie resonances which induce intervals of negative effective permittivity and permeability and which contribute to the formation of the photonic band gaps. Owing to the interplay of these phenomena, a narrow spectral range with a negative refractive index can occur. However, this requires the filling fraction of the dielectric to fall into a well defined interval of values and its permittivity to exceed a minimum of about 50. We discuss these phenomena from the perspective of both photonic crystal and metamaterial concepts.

Gouy shift correction for highly accurate refractive index retrieval in time-domain terahertz spectroscopy.

Terahertz spectroscopic measurements are usually performed in focused beam geometry while the standard routine for the retrieval of the sample refractive index assumes plane-wave approximation. In this paper we propose a model for the transmission function which accounts for spatially limited Gaussian terahertz beams. We demonstrate experimentally its validity and applicability for an accurate extraction of the refractive index from experimental data.

Broadband dielectric terahertz metamaterials with negative permeability.

We present a design of dielectric metamaterials exhibiting a broad range of negative effective permeability in the terahertz spectral region. The investigated structures consist of an array of high-permittivity rods that exhibit a series of Mie resonances giving rise to the effective magnetic response. The spectral positions of resonances depend on the geometrical parameters of the rods and on their permittivity, which define the resonant confinement of the electromagnetic field within the rods. The electromagnetic coupling between the adjacent rods is negligible. With a suitable aspect ratio of the rods, a broadband magnetic response can be obtained.

High tunability of the soft mode in strained SrTiO(3)/DyScO(3) multilayers.

SrTiO(3)/DyScO(3) epitaxial multilayers with variable number and thickness (10-100 nm) of bilayers deposited on DyScO(3) substrates were investigated by means of time-domain terahertz spectroscopy at room temperature. A tensile strain develops in the SrTiO(3) films and shifts the eigenfrequency of the ferroelectric soft mode down by ∼25-45 cm(-1) with respect to the value found for single crystals. In all films the soft mode strongly hardens upon the electrical bias and a linear coupling to a silent excitation of relaxation type at 10 cm(-1) is observed. We show that the change in the THz and sub-THz response of the layers with an increasing field is determined solely by the soft mode eigenfrequency and we propose a phenomenological model describing the origin of the tunability and the peculiar properties of the ferroelectric soft mode in the terahertz spectral range.

Fast one-dimensional photonic crystal modulators for the terahertz range.

Optically controlled one-dimensional photonic crystal structures for the THz range are studied both theoretically and experimentally. A GaAs:Cr layer constitutes a defect in the photonic crystals studied; its photoexcitation by 800 nm optical femtosecond pulses leads to the modulation of the THz beam. Since the THz field can be localized in the photoexcited layer of the photonic crystal, the interaction between photocarriers and THz light is strengthened and yields an appreciable modulation of the THz output beam even for low optical pump fluences. Optimum resonant structures are found, constructed and experimentally studied. The dynamical response of these elements is shown to be controlled by the lifetime of THz photons in the resonator and by the free carrier lifetime. The time response of the structures studied is shorter than 330 ps.

Spectroscopic studies of the ferroelectric and magnetic phase transitions in multiferroic Sr1-xBaxMnO3.

Dielectric response of perovskite Sr1-xBaxMnO3 (x = 0.43 and 0.45) ceramics was investigated using microwave, THz and infrared spectroscopic techniques in order to study the ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic phase transitions with critical temperatures TC ≈ 350 K and TN ≈ 200 K, respectively. The two lowest-frequency polar phonons are overdamped above TN and they exhibit pronounced softening on heating towards TC. Nevertheless, permittivity ε' in the THz range shows only a small anomaly at TC because the phonon contribution to ε' is rather small. The phonons are coupled with a central mode which provides the main contribution to the dielectric anomaly at TC. Thus, the ferroelectric phase transition has characteristics of a crossover from displacive to order-disorder type. At the same time, the intrinsic THz central peak is partially screened by conductivity and related Maxwell-Wagner relaxation, which dominates the microwave and lower-frequency spectra. Below TN, the ferroelectric distortion markedly decreases, which has an influence on the frequencies of both the central and soft modes. Therefore, ε' in the THz range increases at TN on cooling. In spite of the strong spin-phonon coupling near TN, surprisingly no magnetodielectric effect was observed in the THz spectra upon applying magnetic field of up to 7 T, which is in contradiction with the theoretically expected huge magnetoelectric coupling. We explain this fact as due to the insensitivity of TN to magnetic field.

Incipient ferroelectricity of water molecules confined to nano-channels of beryl.

Water is characterized by large molecular electric dipole moments and strong interactions between molecules; however, hydrogen bonds screen the dipole-dipole coupling and suppress the ferroelectric order. The situation changes drastically when water is confined: in this case ordering of the molecular dipoles has been predicted, but never unambiguously detected experimentally. In the present study we place separate H2O molecules in the structural channels of a beryl single crystal so that they are located far enough to prevent hydrogen bonding, but close enough to keep the dipole-dipole interaction, resulting in incipient ferroelectricity in the water molecular subsystem. We observe a ferroelectric soft mode that causes Curie-Weiss behaviour of the static permittivity, which saturates below 10 K due to quantum fluctuations. The ferroelectricity of water molecules may play a key role in the functioning of biological systems and find applications in fuel and memory cells, light emitters and other nanoscale electronic devices.

Propagation of terahertz pulses in photoexcited media: analytical theory for layered systems.

Optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy has become a widely used experimental tool for the investigation of the ultrafast far-infrared response of polar systems. In this paper the authors present an analytical method of calculating the propagation of ultrashort terahertz pulses in photoexcited media. The transient terahertz wave form transmitted through the sample is equal to a product of the incident terahertz field (at a mixed frequency), transient susceptibility, and a so called transfer function which depends on the properties of the sample in equilibrium. The form of the transfer function is derived for general layered systems and for specific cases including one-dimensional photonic crystals, thin films, and bulk samples. Simplified expressions directly applicable to the analysis of the experimental results related to the most common sample geometries are shown and discussed.

Ultrafast opto-terahertz photonic crystal modulator.

We present an agile optically controlled switch or modulator of terahertz (THz) radiation. The element is based on a one-dimensional photonic crystal with a GaAs wafer inserted in the middle as a defect layer. The THz electric field is enhanced in the photonic structure at the surfaces of the GaAs wafer. Excitation of the front GaAs surface by ultrashort 810 nm laser pulses then leads to an efficient modulation of the THz beam even at low photocarrier concentrations (approximately 10(16) cm(-3)). The response time of the element to pulsed photoexcitation is about 130 ps.

Ultrafast far-infrared dynamics probed by terahertz pulses: a frequency domain approach. I. Model systems.

Time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy has become a widely used experimental tool for the investigation of ultrafast dynamics of polar systems in the far infrared. We have recently proposed an analytical method for the extraction of a transient two-dimensional susceptibility from the experimental data [Nemec, Kadlec, and Kuzel, J. Chem. Phys. 117, 8454 (2002)]. In the present paper the methodology of optical pump-terahertz probe experiments is further developed for direct application in realistic experimental situations. The expected two-dimensional transient response function is calculated for a number of model cases (including Drude dynamics of free carriers, harmonic and anharmonic oscillator modes); these results serve as a basis for the interpretation of experimental results. We discuss also the cases where only partial (one-dimensional) information about the system dynamics can be experimentally obtained.

Ultrafast far-infrared dynamics probed by terahertz pulses: a frequency-domain approach. II. Applications.

We present data obtained by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy in selected semiconducting and molecular systems exhibiting subpicosecond far-infrared dynamics. We use a frequency-domain method which eliminates the influence of instrumental functions and artifacts due to frequency mixing and yields a two-dimensional transient conductivity of the photoexcited sample. This technique enables improving the attainable experimental time resolution and allows a simple qualitative interpretation of the results without a priori modeling. The quantitative interpretation is based on the time-dependent Drude and damped harmonic oscillator models.