Enhanced THz radiation from YBCO using a-axis oriented thin films excited by ultrashort optical pulses

The electric field intensity of the THz radiation from YBCO thin films excited by ultrashort laser pulses has been enhanced by a factor of similar to 3 using a-axis oriented films instead of c-axis oriented ones used previously under the same excitation conditions. This corresponds to the enhancement of a factor of 10 for the radiation power. From the transmittance measurements of the millimeter wave for a- and c-axis oriented films, the origin of the enhancement is attributed to the increased fraction of the THz electromagnetic wave power transmitted from the YBCO film to free space. This result indicates that the utilization of the anisotropic properties of high-T-c superconductors is effective to enhance the radiation power.