Asymmetric Cherenkov radiation for improved terahertz generation in the Si-prism-coupled LiNbO3 layer.

We show that a Cherenkov emission of terahertz waves from a femtosecond optical pulse propagating in a LiNbO(3) crystal can be strongly spatially asymmetric with respect to the direction of the optical pulse propagation. We propose using this phenomenon to improve the spectral characteristics of one of the most efficient optical-to-terahertz converters: a thin LiNbO(3) layer attached to a Si-prism outcoupler.