Polarized THz Emission from In‐Plane Dipoles in Monolayer Tungsten Disulfide by Linear and Circular Optical Rectification

Abstract Recent advances in the development of polarized terahertz (THz) emission from nanomaterials have not only opened up a new “TeraNano” interdiscipline but also provided a new tool for nonlinear optical process research. Herein, THz radiation mechanism of monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS₂) is first investigated by both linear and circular polarization laser excitations at room temperature. The results reveal that polarized THz emission is dominated by the optical rectification based on in‐plane nonlinear dipoles, which is totally different from that of bulk WS₂. The mechanism is verified by the azimuthal angle and pump polarization angle dependence of THz emission in both experiment and theory. Furthermore, controllably elliptically polarized THz emission is observed with the maximum ellipticity of ≈0.52 based on nonresonant nonlinear process under the circularly polarized excitation. A clear understanding of THz radiation mechanism of 2D materials will facilitate further design, optimization, and polarization control of integrable 2D THz optoelectronics.