Easily adaptable and scalable semiconductor THz pulse source

A new type of scalable semiconductor THz source is proposed. It contains only two optical elements: a volume phase holographic grating, used at normal incidence to introduce the necessary pulse-front-tilt for phase matching, and a plane-parallel semiconductor crystal, such as GaP. Optical coupling between them is established by refractive index matching liquid. The setup is easily adaptable to different pump wavelengths (up to similar to 2.5 mu m) and THz frequencies by changing the grating.