Carsten Brenner

Electron spin injection into GaAs from ferromagnetic contacts in remanence

We demonstrate electrical spin injection into a (GaIn)As∕GaAs light-emitting diode from the remanent state of ferromagnetic contacts in perpendicular geometry. Using a Fe∕Tb multilayer structure with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a reverse-biased Schottky contact, we achieve a circular polarization degree of the emitted light of 0.75% at 90K.

New Two-Color Laser Concepts for THz Generation

Two-color semiconductor external cavity laser concepts for terahertz (THz) generation are discussed. By defining three critical characteristics, various two-color laser configurations are experimentally classified with respect to the application of THz generation. According to our experimental results, we suggest a new two-color laser configuration. It is based on an external cavity with an etalon.

Photorefractive two-wave mixing for image amplification in digital holography

We use photorefractive two-wave mixing for coherent amplification of the object beam in digital holographic recording. Both amplitude and phase reconstruction benefit from the prior amplification as they have an increased SNR. We experimentally verify that the amplification process does not affect the phase of the wavefield. This allows for digital holographic phase analysis after amplification. As the grating formation in photorefractive crystals is just driven by coherent light, the crystal works as a coherence gate. Thus the proposed combination allows for applying digital holography for imaging through scattering media, after the image bearing light is coherence gated and filtered out of scattered background. We show experimental proof-of principle results.

Spin injection light-emitting diode with vertically magnetized ferromagnetic metal contacts

We analyze the electrical injection of spin-polarized electrons into a (GaIn)As∕GaAs light-emitting diode. Using an Fe∕Tb multilayer structure with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and a reverse-biased Schottky contact, we demonstrate spin injection even in remanence between 90 and 260K. The maximum degree of circular polarization of the emitted light is 0.75% at 90K.

Compact diode-laser-based system for continuous-wave and quasi-time-domain terahertz spectroscopy

We present a multimodal diode-laser-based terahertz (THz) spectroscopy system. In contrast to other laser-based THz setups that provide either cw or broadband THz generation, our configuration combines the advantages of both approaches. Our low complexity setup enables fast switching from cw difference frequency generation to broadband THz emission, enabling sophisticated data analysis like much more complex time domain spectroscopy systems.

Self-optimizing femtosecond semiconductor laser

A self-optimizing approach to intra-cavity spectral shaping of external cavity mode-locked semiconductor lasers using edge-emitting multi-section diodes is presented. An evolutionary algorithm generates spectrally resolved phase- and amplitude masks that lead to the utilization of a large part of the net gain spectrum for mode-locked operation. Using these masks as a spectral amplitude and phase filter, a bandwidth of the optical intensity spectrum of 3.7 THz is achieved and Fourier-limited pulses of 216 fs duration are generated after further external compression.

Detection of THz radiation with semiconductor diode lasers

As a consequence of the strong many-body interactions in the electron-hole plasma, a semiconductor laser efficiently interacts with terahertz radiation. The injection of terahertz laser radiation into the active region of a diode laser induces a measurable variation of the voltage over the p-n junction, indicating the potential of a semiconductor laser to act as a terahertz detector.

Mode-locked semiconductor laser system with intracavity spatial light modulator for linear and nonlinear dispersion management

We analyze the influence of second and third order intracavity dispersion on a passively mode-locked diode laser by introducing a spatial light modulator (SLM) into the external cavity. The dispersion is optimized for chirped pulses with highest possible spectral bandwidth that can be externally compressed to the sub picosecond range. We demonstrate that the highest spectral bandwidth is achieved for a combination of second and third order dispersion. With subsequent external compression pulses with a duration of 437 fs are generated.

Femtosecond semiconductor laser system with resonator-internal dispersion adaptation

We present a femtosecond laser diode system that is capable of autonomously adjusting itself to compensate for the external dispersion in an arbitrary application. The laser system contains a spatial light modulator inside the cavity which is controlled by an evolutionary algorithm in order to allow for phase and amplitude shaping of the laser emission. The cavity-internal dispersion control is shown to be much more efficient than an external control with a pulse shaper.

Passively Mode-Locked Diode Laser With Optimized Dispersion Management

We investigate passively mode-locked diode lasers with external cavity for ultrashort pulse generation. Our strategy to achieve ultrashort pulses is to generate strongly chirped pulses with a maximized bandwidth and to compress them externally. By managing intracavity dispersion with an evolutionary algorithm, we obtain pulse widths as short as 278 fs following this approach. We analyze the bandwidth of the optimized pulses in comparison to the available net gain bandwidth of the diode laser device to derive further strategies for achieving shorter pulses.