Ground state terahertz quantum cascade lasers

• Main Authors: Hu, Qing (Contributor), Reno, John L. (Author), Chan, Chun Wang Ivan (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics (AIP), 2014-05-02T17:16:29Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

A terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz QCL) architecture is presented in which only the ground state subbands of each quantum well are involved in the transport and lasing transition. Compared to state-of-the art THz QCLs based on the resonant-phonon scheme, ground stateQCLs employ narrower wells so that all high-energy subbands are pushed up far above the occupied subband levels, significantly reducing parasitic interactions. Data on the experimental realization of two types of ground stateQCLs are presented, in which the result of lasing above 5 THz is demonstrated.
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Science Foundation (U.S.)