Intensity-surged and bandwidth-extended terahertz radiation in two-foci cascading plasmas

The two-color strong-field mixing in gas medium is a widely used approach to generate bright broadband terahertz (THz) radiation. Here, we present a new, to the best of our knowledge, and counterintuitive method to promote THz performance in the two-color scheme. Beyond our knowledge that the maximum THz generation occurs with two-color foci overlapped, we found that, when the foci of two-color beams are noticeably separated along the propagation axis resulting in cascading plasmas, the THz conversion efficiency is surged by one order of magnitude and the bandwidth is stretched by more than two times, achieving 10(-3) conversion efficiency and >100 THz bandwidth under the condition of 800/400 nm, similar to 35 fs driving lasers. With the help of the pulse propagation equation and photocurrent model, the observations can he partially understood by the compromise between THz generation and absorption due to the spatial redistribution of laser energy in cascading plasmas. The present method can be extended to a mid-infrared driving laser, and new records of THz peak power and conversion efficiency are expected. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group