Raman scattering at terahertz frequencies enabled by an infrared free electron laser

In the last decade the use of infrared free electron laser facilities enabled observation of inelastic light (Raman) scattering in THz frequency range. Raman-active intracenter donor transitions in silicon fall into the THz range and serve as outgoing resonances in electronic Stokes scattering. At photon fluxes above 1E24 photon/cm2/s donor-related Raman stimulated emission occurs in the range 4.2-6.5 THz from natural and isotopically enriched silicon crystals with various dopants while the free electron laser wavelength was varied between 18 and 41 mkm (7.5-16.5 THz). Study of dynamics of the observed emission shows a transient picosecond-micropulse mode that indicates on significantly larger Raman gain realized in THz Raman silicon lasers. This research has been partly supported by the EC CALIPSO project for the Transnational access to the European FELs and Synchrotron facilities as well as joint German-Russian program "Research on technological advances of radiation sources of photons and neutrons based on accelerators and neutron sources in cooperation with research organizations and universities of the Federal Republic of Germany" (InTerFEL project, BMBF No. 05K2014 and the Russian Ministry of Science and Education (No. RFMEFl61614X0008).