Review of intense terahertz radiation from relativistic laser-produced plasmas

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a rapid development of sources for intense terahertz (THz) pulses and an increasing number of their applications. The advent of laser pulses with intensities in excess of 1018 W/cm2 offers an immense opportunity for generating extremely energetic THz pulses from laser-produced plasmas. This paper will review recent progress in the study of THz radiation generated from relativistically intense laser-plasma interactions, mainly focusing on the underlying THz generation models under different laser and plasma parameters, albeit still not yet fully explored. Various THz generation scenarios are discussed associated with laser-excited waves in plasmas, the transport and emission of laser-accelerated electrons, and structured targets.