Elliptically polarized terahertz emission in the forward direction of a femtosecond laser filament in air

Elliptically polarized terahertz emission from a femtosecond laser filament in air in the forward direction was discovered by using a wire grid polarizer and electro-optic sampling technique. The generation mechanism could be through four-wave optical rectification or second-order optical rectification inside the filament zone where the inversion symmetry of air is broken.