Time-frequency signal processing of terahertz pulses

We demonstrate that some signal-processing techniques, such as the fractional Fourier transform and the spectrogram, which are known to be effective for optical signals, can be implemented at terahertz frequencies and with available terahertz devices. These techniques, contrary to the frequency-resolved optical-gating method for pulse characterization, do not require nonlinear media, which do not exist at terahertz frequencies. Thus the fractional Fourier transform or the spectrogram offers the only possibility of characterizing terahertz pulses simultaneously in time and frequency. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.