Abstract
We propose and experimentally demonstrate the generation of single-cycle terahertz radiation with two-stage optical rectification in GaSe crystals. By adjusting the time delay between the pump pulses employed to excite the two stages, the terahertz radiation from the second GaSe crystal can constructively superpose with the terahertz field injected from the first stage. The high mutual coherence between the two terahertz radiation fields is ensured with the coherent optical rectification process and can be further used to synthesize a desired spectral profile of coherent THz radiation. The technique is also potentially useful for generating high-power single-cycle terahertz pulses, usually limited by the pulse walk-off effect of the nonlinear optical crystal used. © 2008 Optical Society of America.