The ability to switch ferroics (magnets, ferroelectrics, multiferroics) between two stable bit states is the main principle of modern data storage technology. Due to many new ideas, originating from fundamental research during the last 50 years, this technology has developed in a breath-taking fashion. Ever increasing demands for faster and more energy efficient data storage strongly motivate fundamental studies of dynamics in ferroics triggered by ultrashort stimuli. It has been recently realized that nearly single cycle intense THz pulses and the phenomenon of the second harmonic generation are appealing tools for excitation and detection of poorly understood ultrafast dynamics of electric polarization in ferroelectrics at the picosecond timescale. Here we investigate picosecond dynamics of second harmonic from near-infrared pulse in ferroelectric heterostructure Ba_0.8Sr_0.2TiO₃/MgO triggered by the electric field of a nearly single cycle intense THz pulse. The dynamics of the nonlinear optical signal is characterized by a step and oscillations at the frequency of about 1.67 THz. Although the observations can be mistakenly interpreted as oscillations of the electric polarization at the frequency of the soft mode and switching of the order parameter to another metastable state, here we show that the THz modulation of second harmonic generation in Ba_0.8Sr_0.2TiO₃/MgO has a purely optical origin. The observation can be explained assuming that the THz pulse is a relativistically propagating inhomogeneity which induces center of symmetry breaking and linear birefringence. Our work reveals the role of propagation effects in interpretation of time-resolved non-linear optical experiments and thus it has important implications for experimental studies of ultrafast dynamics in ferroics.

The efficiency of the generation and detection of terahertz radiation in the range up to 3 THz by LT-GaAs films containing equidistant Si doping δ layers and grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (100) and (111)Ga substrates is studied by terahertz spectroscopy. Microstrip photoconductive antennas are fabricated on the film surface. Terahertz radiation is generated by exposure of the antenna gap to femtosecond optical laser pulses. It is shown that the intensity of terahertz radiation from the photoconductive antenna on LT-GaAs/GaAs (111)Ga is twice as large as the intensity of a similar antenna on LT-GaAs/GaAs(100) and the sensitivity of the antenna on LT-GaAs/GaAs (111)Ga as a terahertz-radiation detector exceeds that of the antenna on LT-GaAs/GaAs(100) by a factor of 1.4.

We report here an experimental and theoretical study on ultrafast switching of dielectric polarization in (Ba_0.8Sr_0.2)TiO₃ thin films by a strong electric field of a nearly single-cycle THz pulse at different temperatures. Optical second harmonic generation (SHG) is used as a probe of the polarization in the terahertz pump-optical probe experiment. We describe an approach to interpretation of SHG response from the ferroelectric polydomain film excited by a short electric field pulse. We show that dielectric polarization induced by the THz field decreases while approaching the Curie temperature. Simulations with the help of the Duffing equation reproduce the experimental observations.

Usually, the presence of multiple eigenstates (magnons and phonons) in a system makes it difficult to analyze the coupled excitation mechanism using conventional single-pulse terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. On the contrary, 2D THz spectroscopy reveals energy flows between these states, which facilitates the identification of the coupled dynamics. In this article, we provide a theoretical description of this advanced technique and an experimental demonstration of its performance in antiferromagnet CoF2. Here, 2D THz spectroscopy shows that the THz pulse induces energy transfer from the magnon mode to the Raman-active phonon mode via a nonlinear excitation pathway.