We present a detailed study of the characteristics of electro-optic sampling of ultrashort terahertz (THz) pulses including frequency-dependent phase matching, reflection, dispersive propagation, and adsorption. In particular, we investigated the origin of the oscillatory tail that is often observed in electro-optic sampling traces and found that this tail results from the dispersive propagation of the THz pulse through the electro-optic crystal. For extremely broadband THz pulses, the THz pulse is additionally distorted by reflection and absorption in both the generation and the electro-optic detection crystal. The modeling of the distorted electro-optic sampling trace permits a detailed reconstruction of the initial THz pulse.

doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.15.001795
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B
Ultrafast Spectroscopy

Bakker, H., Cho, G. C., Kurz, H., Wu, Q., & Zhang, X.-C. (1998). Distortion of terahertz pulses in electro-optic sampling. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, 15, 1795–1801. doi:10.1364/JOSAB.15.001795