Nathan Jukam

Two-dimensional terahertz photonic crystals fabricated by deep reactive ion etching in Si

Two-dimensional terahertz photonic crystals were manufactured from Si using deep reactive ion etching. Arrays of square holes with widths of 80 (100) μm and lattice constants of 100 (125) μm were etched through 500-μm-thick wafers with high resistivity. Stop bands with transmittance 200 GHz were observed near 1 THz for light with an electric field vector in the plane of the wafers (TE polarization). The observed stop bands are close to TE photonic band gaps predicted by a two-dimensional calculation.

Phase seeding of a terahertz quantum cascade laser

The amplification of spontaneous emission is used to initiate laser action. As the phase of spontaneous emission is random, the phase of the coherent laser emission (the carrier phase) will also be random each time laser action begins. This prevents phase-resolved detection of the laser field. Here, we demonstrate how the carrier phase can be fixed in a semiconductor laser: a quantum cascade laser (QCL). This is performed by injection seeding a QCL with coherent terahertz pulses, which forces laser action to start on a fixed phase. This permits the emitted laser field to be synchronously sampled with a femtosecond laser beam, and measured in the time domain. We observe the phase-resolved buildup of the laser field, which can give insights into the laser dynamics. In addition, as the electric field oscillations are directly measured in the time domain, QCLs can now be used as sources for time-domain spectroscopy.

Investigation of spectral gain narrowing in quantum cascade lasers using terahertz time domain spectroscopy

The spectral gain of bound-to-continuum terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) is measured as a function of current density using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. During lasing action the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the gain is found to monotonically decrease with increasing current density until lasing action stops at which point the FWHM reaches a minimum (0.22 THz for a laser operating at 2.1 THz). Band structure calculations show that the spectral gain narrowing is due to the alignment and misalignment of the injector with the active region as a function of the applied bias field.

Terahertz time domain spectroscopy of phonon-depopulation based quantum cascade lasers

A 3.1THz phonon depopulation-based quantum-cascade-laser is investigated using terahertz time domain spectroscopy. A gain of 25cm-1 and absorption features due to the lower laser level being populated from a parasitic electronic channel are highlighted.

Gain Measurements of THz Quantum Cascade Lasers using THz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

Terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy is used to investigate the gain and losses of a THz quantum cascade laser (QCL) operating at 2.86 THz. This measurement technique allows access to the amplitude and phase spectra, allowing the direct determination of the gain. At the emission frequency of the QCL, a value of 6.5 cm-1 is found. The gain can also be studied as a function of different operating conditions, even when no laser action is present. Effects such as gain clamping and spectral narrowing are also observed. Furthermore, temperature measurements illustrate the reduction of the gain as the temperature is increased.

Direct intensity sampling of a modelocked terahertz quantum cascade laser

Pulses from an actively modelocked terahertz quantum cascade laser are fully characterized using an optical sampling technique to detect the total instantaneous terahertz intensity. By triggering the quantum cascade laser electronics with a femtosecond laser, we are able to measure both the formation of modelocked pulses and the quasi-steady state. The dependence of the pulse width on the modulation power and drive current are investigated. At low drive currents, we measure transform-limited gaussian-shaped pulses with a FWHM of 19 ps.

Mode-locking of a terahertz laser by direct phase synchronization.

A novel scheme to achieve mode-locking of a multimode laser is demonstrated. Traditional methods to produce ultrashort laser pulses are based on modulating the cavity gain or losses at the cavity roundtrip frequency, favoring the pulsed emission. Here, we rather directly act on the phases of the modes, resulting in constructive interference for the appropriated phase relationship. This was performed on a terahertz quantum cascade laser by multimode injection seeding with an external terahertz pulse, resulting in phase mode-locked terahertz laser pulses of 9 ps duration, characterized unambiguously in the time domain.

Integrated terahertz pulse generation and amplification in quantum cascade lasers

Terahertz pulse generation is demonstrated by a resonant femtosecond interband excitation of the miniband of a quantum-cascade-laser. The laser gain is subsequently used to amplify the terahertz pulse generated as it propagates through the cavity.

Dual wavelength emission from a terahertz quantum cascade laser

We describe a heterogeneous terahertz (THz) quantum cascade laser that is composed of two different active region designs. This device emits simultaneously at around 2.5 and 2.9 THz with certain frequency tunability by applied current. We also investigate the spectral gain in the structure by THz time-domain spectroscopy and correlate the gain spectral bandwidth with the alignment and wavelength emission behavior of the two stack device.

Gain enhancement in a terahertz quantum cascade laser with parylene antireflection coatings

We study the effect of parylene antireflection coatings on the gain of a 2.8 THz quantum cascade laser using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. With antireflection coatings the threshold current increases as the mirror losses are increased, and the gain clamps at 16 cm−1, compared to 10 cm−1 for an uncoated device. These values are consistent with a drop in reflectivity from 0.320 to 0.053 as a consequence of the coating deposition. Further improvements could reveal the bare cavity gain and permit the quantum cascade laser to be used as an efficient terahertz amplifier.