Generation of first-order terahertz optical sidebands in asymmetric coupled quantum wells

Abstract

We have generated first-order tetrahertz (THz) optical sidebands on a near-infrared (NIR) probe beam by driving an excitonic intersubband resonance with THz electric fields. We use THz radiation polarized along the noncentrosymmetric axis of a quantum well system to generate a comb of sidebands ωsideband=ωNIR+nωTHz. The n=1 process offers an efficient means of modulating a NIR carrier beam at THz frequencies and yields new spectroscopic information on excitonic intersubband transitions.