Ultrafast terahertz Kerr effect spectroscopy of aromatic liquids

Ultrafast Terahertz Kerr Effect (TKE) spectroscopy is a relatively new nonlinear THz technique that is sensitive to the orientational dynamics of anisotropic, condensed-phase samples. The sample is excited by a single high field strength ∼1 ps THz pulse, and the resulting transient birefringence is measured by a 40 fs 800 nm probe pulse. We have measured the TKE response of several arom. liqs. at room temp., including benzene, benzene-d6, hexafluorobenzene, pyridine, and toluene. The measured decay consts. range from 1-10 ps, and, along with previous optical Kerr effect results in the literature, give insights into intermol. interactions in these liqs.