Narrowband, Angle-Tunable, Helicity-Dependent Terahertz Emission from Nanowires of the Topological Dirac Semimetal Cd<sub>3</sub>As<sub>2</sub>
Jessica L. Boland, Djamshid A. Damry, Chelsea Q. Xia, Piet Schönherr, D. Prabhakaran, Laura M. Herz, T. Hesjedal, Michael B. Johnston
Abstract
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide All-optical control of terahertz pulses is essential for the development of optoelectronic devices for next-generation quantum technologies. Despite substantial research in THz generation methods, polarization control remains difficult. Here, we demonstrate that by exploiting band structure topology, both helicity-dependent and helicity-independent THz emission can be generated from nanowires of the topological Dirac semimetal Cd 3 As 2 . We show that narrowband THz pulses can be generated at oblique incidence by driving the system with optical (1.55 eV) pulses with circular polarization. Varying the incident angle also provides control of the peak emission frequency, with peak frequencies spanning 0.21–1.40 THz as the angle is tuned from 15 to 45°. We therefore present Cd 3 As 2 nanowires as a promising novel material platform for controllable terahertz emission.