Deformation corrected real-time terahertz imaging

Abstract

The authors have developed a method of real-time terahertz imaging in which image deformation due to nonuniformity of residual birefringence in the electro-optic (EO) sampling crystal is corrected. Real-time terahertz imaging using intense terahertz pulses and two-dimensional EO sampling can suffer from birefringence nonuniformity of the EO crystal since the birefringence is explicitly used for the linear detection of the terahertz field. In the proposed method, the distribution of the residual birefringence of the EO crystal is measured and used for image correction. Deformation-free images of the spatial profile of a focused terahertz pulse were obtained. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.