ANALYSIS OF TERAHERTZ PULSE MEASUREMENT WITH A CHIRPED PROBE BEAM

In this letter, terahertz (THz) pulse measurements with a chirped prob e pulse are analyzed. The method of stationary phase is used to explor e the relation between the temporal waveform of an input THz pulse and spectral distribution of an output probe pulse on a detector array. T he dependence of the temporal resolution on the chirp rate, the spectr um of the chirped probe beam, and the spectral resolution of the spect rometer is discussed. We confirm that the temporal resolution of the c hirped pulse technique is equal to the square root of the product of t he original unchirped probe pulse duration and the chirped pulse durat ion. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)03743-7].