This dissertation covers my work relating to the application of strong terahertz (THz) radiation to study the nonlinear properties of nano-scale material. It presents experimental and numerical studies on the optical and electronic properties of various material system including single-layer graphene, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), nanoantenna-patterned gallium arsenide (GaAs) and...
We demonstrate that unidirectionally aligned, free-standing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit highly anisotropic linear and nonlinear terahertz (THz) responses. For the polarization parallel to the CNT axis, strong THz pulses induce nonlinear absorption in the quasi-one-dimensional conducting media, while no nonlinear effect is observed in the perpendicular polarization configuration. Time-resolved...
We show that the transmission of a terahertz (THz) pulse through single-layer graphene is strongly
nonlinear. As the peak electric field of the THz pulse exceeds 50 kV/cm, the graphene becomes
increasingly transparent to the THz radiation. When field strength reaches 800 kV/cm, the increased
transparency corresponds to a two-fold...