Interferometric Terahertz Wavefront Analysis

Wavefront characterization of terahertz beams is useful for various applications such as terahertz spectroscopy and imaging. In this paper, we report on the aberration measurement of a terahertz beam issued from a quantum cascade laser. By using a terahertz camera and a two-wave noncommon path interferometer, we measured the wavefront distortions. As an example, we evaluated the Zernike coefficients giving the aberrations of spherical wavefronts induced by a converging lens. Associated with a deformable mirror, the sensor will open the route to terahertz adaptive optics.