Variable Repetition Rate THz Source for Ultrafast Scanning Tunneling Microscopy. 2021

Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
University of Stuttgart, Institute for Functional Matter and Quantum Technologies, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.

Broadband THz pulses enable ultrafast electronic transport experiments on the nanoscale by coupling THz electric fields into the devices with antennas, asperities, or scanning probe tips. Here, we design a versatile THz source optimized for driving the highly resistive tunnel junction of a scanning tunneling microscope. The source uses optical rectification in lithium niobate to generate arbitrary THz pulse trains with freely adjustable repetition rates between 0.5 and 41 MHz. These induce subpicosecond voltage transients in the tunnel junction with peak amplitudes between 0.1 and 12 V, achieving a conversion efficiency of 0.4 V/(kV/cm) from far-field THz peak electric field strength to peak junction voltage in the STM. Tunnel currents in the quantum limit of less than one electron per THz pulse are readily detected at multi-MHz repetition rates. The ability to tune between high pulse energy and high signal fidelity makes this THz source design effective for exploration of ultrafast and atomic-scale electron dynamics.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
January 2020, Research (Washington, D.C.),
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
May 1993, Physical review. B, Condensed matter,
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
May 2023, ACS applied optical materials,
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
November 2019, Optics letters,
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
November 2021, ACS nano,
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
May 2020, Optics letters,
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
July 2020, Journal of synchrotron radiation,
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
January 2012, Chimia,
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
January 2020, Science (New York, N.Y.),
Mohamad Abdo, and Shaoxiang Sheng, and Steffen Rolf-Pissarczyk, and Lukas Arnhold, and Jacob A J Burgess, and Masahiko Isobe, and Luigi Malavolti, and Sebastian Loth
August 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,
Copied contents to your clipboard!