Development of high-efficiency etalons with an optical shutter for terahertz laser pulses

A high-efficiency etalon operated in the terahertz (THz) frequency region has been proposed to generate a THz pulse train. To achieve high-conversion efficiency to the pulse train, an optical shutter is employed in this etalon. The etalon is composed of a silicon (Si) plate as an input coupler and an indium-tin-oxide (ITO)-coated glass plate as an output coupler. After THz light is introduced into the etalon through the Si plate, the optical shutter pulse irradiates the Si surface to generate a photoconductive layer that acts as a highly reflective mirror for THz light. A THz pulse train and its comb-shaped spectrum have been realized by the use of the proposed etalon with the optical shutter. A finesse F of 9.04 was achieved at the free spectral range of 75 GHz in this etalon. (C)2012 Optical Society of America