The Terahertz (THz) and Infrared (IR) Road Map of the European community suggests that this radiation will become a fundamental spectroscopy tool for probing and analyzing new quantum materials, ranging from graphene to topological insulators and new superconductors.
As part of the SABINA project, a new THz / IR source will be developed based on the APPLE-X undulator emission at the SPARC-Lab facility of the INFN national laboratories in Frascati (LNF). The light emitted by this source will be propagated to a new laboratory where it can be used in various experiments in the field of basic and applied research.
This highly innovative source will cover a wide spectral region from 3 THz to 30 THz, with light pulses lasting a few picoseconds, energy of tens of µJ and a variable polarization from linear to circular. The corresponding electric fields generated, up to 10 MV / cm, are able to induce non-linear phenomena in many quantum systems and will allow to carry out new experiments where the systems under examination will not only be investigated but also controlled by the radiation.
The beamline, open to user experiments, will be equipped with a 5T magnetic cryostat and will be synchronized with a femtosecond laser for time-resolved experiments where the excitations characterizing the systems under examination will be followed in their temporal evolution on ultrafast scales.
The THz / IR source and the experimental set-up were developed in collaboration between INFN and the Physics Department of La Sapienza University.
Contacts: Prof. S. Lupi, E. Chiadroni, Dr. S. Macis