Harmonic quantum cascade laser terahertz frequency combs enabled by multilayer graphene top-cavity scatters.

Quantum cascade laser (QCL) harmonic state frequency combs (HFCs) have recently attracted considerable interest for applications ranging from the generation of tones of high spectral purity, high data rate wireless communication networks, radiofrequency arbitrary waveform synthesis, and for fundamental light-matter investigations in quantum physics. However, a detailed knowledge of the nature of the electronic and thermal energy distribution in these devices is of paramount importance for the refinement of their thermal management and quantum efficiency, which are key to the widespread adoption of QCL HFC technology in a new generation of integrated optical quantum platforms. Here, we perform a comparative study of the thermal and electronic properties of Fabry–Perot and micro-ring HFC QCLs, operating in the terahertz frequency range, using micro-probe band-to-band photoluminescence. By monitoring the lattice temperature and the electron cooling above the threshold for stimulated emission, we extract the device thermal resistances and the internal quantum efficiencies, highlighting the key role of the resonator architecture.

We report a homogeneous quantum cascade laser (QCL) emitting at terahertz (THz) frequencies, with a total spectral emission of about 0.6 THz, centered around 3.3 THz, a current density dynamic range Jdr = 1.53, and a continuous wave output power of 7 mW. The analysis of the intermode beatnote unveils that the devised laser operates as an optical frequency comb (FC) synthesizer over the whole laser operational regime, with up to 36 optically active laser modes delivering ∼200 µW of optical power per optical mode, a power level unreached so far in any THz QCL FC. A stable and narrow single beatnote, reaching a minimum linewidth of about 500 Hz, is observed over a current density range of 240 A/cm2 and even across the negative differential resistance region. We further prove that the QCL FC can be injection locked with moderate radio frequency power at the intermode beatnote frequency, covering a locking range of 1.2 MHz. The demonstration of stable FC operation, in a QCL, over the full current density dynamic range, and without any external dispersion compensation mechanism, makes our proposed homogenous THz QCL an ideal tool for metrological applications requiring mode-hop electrical tunability and a tight control of the frequency and phase jitter.

The frequency comb which is characterized by equally-spaced frequency lines with high mode coherence has received much attention since its first demonstration in near-infrared and optical frequency range. In the terahertz frequency range, the electrically-pumped terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz QCL) based on semiconductors is an ideal candidate for achieving frequency comb operation in a frequency range between 1 THz and 5 THz. The group velocity dispersion (GVD) is a key factor for the frequency comb. A higher GVD can pull the frequencies from their equidistant values and limit the comb bandwidth. Therefore the laser dispersion needs to be compensated for in order to make the total GVD sufficiently low and flat, such as using a Gires-Tournois interferometer (GTI) or the double chirped mirror (DCM). However, a successful design still depends on the knowledge of the total GVD in the laser. In this paper, we show how to calculate the GVD in metal-metal waveguide THz QCLs by taking into account the dispersions from the GaAs material, the waveguide, and the laser gain, which conduces to the understanding of the frequency comb behavior. The waveguide loss is modelled by the finite element method. The loss due to intersubband absorption is calculated by Fermi's gold rule. All the losses, i.e., waveguide loss, mirror loss, and intersubband absorption loss, are summed up to calculate the clamped gain. The material loss can be calculated by using the reststrahlen band model. Because of these losses and gain, the refractive index needs to be replaced by a complex refractive index. The real part of the complex refractive index is the refractive index, which can be calculated from the Kramers-Kronig relationship that connects the loss or gain with the refractive index. Then the GVD introduced by the material loss, waveguide loss, and clamped gain can be finally calculated. The results show that the total GVD of THz QCL is approximately –8 × 10<sup>5</sup>~8 × 10<sup>5</sup> fs<sup>2</sup>/mm which is strongly determined by the clamped gain. Finally, the developed numerical model is employed to study the dispersion compensation effect of a GTI mirror which is coupled into a QCL gain cavity. The design of the THz QCL based on GTI structure is more flexible and feasible than that of the DCM. The result shows that by carefully designing the geometry of GTI, the dispersion of a THz QCL can be compensated for, thus achieving the broadband terahertz frequency combs.

A novel study on harmonic frequency combs emitted by quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) is presented here, demonstrating the presence of intensity correlations between twin modes characterizing the emission spectra. These originate from a four‐wave mixing process driven by the active medium's third‐order nonlinearity. The study of such correlations is essential for the engineering of a new generation of semiconductor devices with the potential of becoming integrated emitters of light with quantum properties, such as squeezing and entanglement. Starting from experimental results, the limits of state‐of‐the‐art technology are discussed as well as the possible methodologies that could lead to the detection of nonclassical phenomena, or alternatively improve the design of QCLs, in the compelling perspective of generating quantum correlations in mid‐infrared light.

A laser system composed of two lasers phase-locked onto an Optical Frequency Comb Synthesizer (OFCS), operating around 1083 nm, was developed. An absolute frequency precision of 6x10(-13) at 1s, limited by the OFCS, was measured with a residual rms phase-noise of 71 mrad and 87 mrad for the two phase-locks, respectively. Multiplex spectroscopy on 1083 nm Helium transitions with this set-up is demonstrated. Generalization of this system to a larger number of OFCS assisted laser sources for wider frequency separations, even in other spectral regions, is discussed.

Stable operation is one of the most important requirements for a laser source for high-precision applications. Many efforts have been made to improve the stability of lasers by employing various techniques, e.g., electrical and/or optical injection and phase locking. However, these techniques normally involve complex experimental facilities. Therefore, an easy implementation of the stability evaluation of a laser is still challenging, especially for lasers emitting in the terahertz (THz) frequency range because the broadband photodetectors and mature locking techniques are limited. In this work, we propose a simple method, i.e., relative phase locking, to quickly evaluate the stability of THz lasers without a need of a THz local oscillator. The THz laser system consists of a THz quantum cascade laser (QCL) frequency comb and a single-mode QCL. Using the single-mode laser as a fast detector, heterodyne signals resulting from the beating between the single-mode laser and the comb laser are obtained. One of the heterodyne beating signals is selected and sent to a phase-locked loop (PLL) for implementing the relative phase locking. Two kinds of locks are performed by feeding the output error signal of the PLL, either to the comb laser or to the single-mode laser. By analyzing the current change and the corresponding frequency change of the PLL-controlled QCL in each phase-locking condition, we, in principle, are able to experimentally compare the stability of the emission frequency of the single-mode QCL (fs) and the carrier envelope offset frequency (fCEO) of the QCL comb. The experimental results reveal that the QCL comb with the repetition frequency injection locked demonstrates much higher stability than the single-mode laser. The work provides a simple heterodyne scheme for understanding the stability of THz lasers, which paves the way for the further locking of the lasers and their high-precision applications in the THz frequency range.

A periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal with multiple poling periods is used to generate tunable narrow-bandwidth THz pulses for injection seeding a quantum cascade laser (QCL). We demonstrate that longitudinal modes of the quantum cascade laser close to the gain maximum can be selected or suppressed according to the seed spectrum. The QCL emission spectra obtained by electro-optic sampling from the quantum cascade laser, in the most favorable case, shows high selectivity and amplification of the longitudinal modes that overlap the frequency of the narrow-band seed. Proper selection of the narrow-band THz seed from the PPLN crystal discretely tunes the longitudinal mode emission of the quantum cascade laser. Moreover, the THz wave build-up within the laser cavity is studied as a function of the round-trip time. When the seed frequency is outside the maximum of the gain spectrum the laser emission shifts to the preferential longitudinal mode.

High-power terahertz frequency quantum cascade lasers operating in both pulsed and continuous wave (CW) modes are demonstrated. High Al composition four quantum wells active region based on diagonal structure are employed to suppress the escape of electrons into continuum and thermally activated LO-phonon scattering, as evidenced by the activation energy value of ~14.4 meV extracted from the experimental data. The devices operate in a frequency range of 3.8 - 4.05 THz and have a pulsed maximum operating temperature of ~119 K. The total optical output power from an uncoated laser is 1.57 W and the maximum single-facet emission power from an HR coated one is 1.03 W in pulsed mode at 7 K. The maximum output power of ~256 mW is obtained by a 2.5-mm-long device operating in CW mode with a low threshold current density of 188.6 A/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> at 15 K.

Terahertz (THz) frequency sources such as quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) offer a variety of new applications in far-infrared frequency bands. For better understanding of their behavior, a device-specific modeling approach is used to predict the optical output power under current modulation and chip temperature. This letter reports the numerical simulation of gain switching to evaluate temperature dependence for short pulse generation in QCLs. Modified rate equations are used for self-consistent computation of emitted THz optical power from QCLs. The device emits at 116 µm and is driven by various inputs such as haversine, tangential hyperbolic and square electrical pulses. From the simulation it is evident that the square input pulse requires the least magnitude current (0.83 A) at 15 K to generate pulses with minimum full width half maximum (FWHM). Moreover, when the peak amplitude of the square input signal is 1.01 A, it generates optical pulses with the least FWHM of 19.42 ps at 45 K. In the case of the haversine input with peak amplitude of 1.8A, a peak power of 27.86 mW is generated at 15 K.

The terahertz (THz) frequency quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a semiconductor heterostructure laser that has attracted much research interest over the past decade. We report on the high performance of THz QCLs based on a three-well resonant-phonon (RP) depopulation active region (AR) and operating in the frequency range 2.7 THz to 4.0 THz. Devices, processed into surface-plasmon waveguides, lased up to 116 K in pulsed mode with threshold current densities as low as 840 Acm−2. The effects of the design frequency and laser cavity length on performance are discussed. We also report on the operation of QCLs with reduced AR thicknesses, and show, for the first time, that the AR thickness of RP QCLs processed in a surface plasmon waveguide can be reduced to as little as 5 µm. Finally, we demonstrate the use of an electrically tuneable THz QCL, based on a heterogeneous AR, for spectroscopic imaging of the high-explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate.

Optical frequency combs, consisting of well‐controlled equidistant frequency lines, have been widely used in precision spectroscopy and metrology. Terahertz combs have been realized in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) by employing either an active mode‐locking or phase seeding technique, or a dispersion compensator mirror. However, it remains a challenge to achieve the passive comb formation in terahertz semiconductor lasers due to the insufficient nonlinearities of conventional saturable absorbers. Here, a passive terahertz frequency comb is demonstrated by coupling a multilayer graphene sample into a QCL compound cavity. The terahertz modes are self‐stabilized with intermode beat note linewidths down to a record of 700 Hz and the comb operation of graphene‐coupled QCLs is validated by on‐chip dual‐comb measurements. Furthermore, the optical pulse emitted from the graphene‐coupled QCL is directly measured employing a terahertz pump–probe technique. The enhanced passive frequency comb operation is attributed to the saturable absorption behavior of the graphene‐integrated saturable absorber mirror, as well as the dispersion compensation introduced by the graphene sample. The results provide a conceptually different graphene‐based approach for passive comb formation in terahertz QCLs, opening up intriguing opportunities for fast and high‐precision terahertz spectroscopy and nonlinear photonics.

A distributed-feedback quantum-cascade laser working in the 4.3÷4.4 mm range has been frequency stabilized to the Lamb-dip center of a CO2 ro-vibrational transition by means of first-derivative locking to the saturated absorption signal, and its absolute frequency counted with a kHz-level precision and an overall uncertainty of 75 kHz. This has been made possible by an optical link between the QCL and a near-IR Optical Frequency Comb Synthesizer, thanks to a non-linear sum-frequency generation process with a fiber-amplified Nd:YAG laser. The implementation of a new spectroscopic technique, known as polarization spectroscopy, provides an improved signal for the locking loop, and will lead to a narrower laser emission and a drastic improvement in the frequency stability, that in principle is limited only by the stability of the optical frequency comb synthesizer (few parts in 1013). These results confirm quantum cascade lasers as reliable sources not only for high-sensitivity, but also for highprecision measurements, ranking them as optimal laser sources for space applications.

The present study proposes a terahertz quantum cascade laser frequency comb (THz QCL FC) with a semi-insulated surface plasma waveguide characterized by a low threshold current density, high power and a wide current dynamic range. The gain dispersion value and the nonlinear susceptibility were optimized based on the combination of a hybrid bound-to-continuum active region with a semi-insulated surface plasmon waveguide. Without any extra dispersion compensator, stable frequency comb operation within a current dynamic range of more than 97% of the total was revealed by the intermode beat note map. Additionally, a total comb spectral emission of about 300 GHz centered around 4.6 THz was achieved for a 3 mm long and 150 µm wide device. At 10 K, a maximum output power of 22 mW was obtained with an ultra-low threshold current density of 64.4 A·cm-2.

We have developed terahertz frequency quantum cascade lasers that exploit a double-periodicity distributed feedback grating to control the emission frequency and the output beam direction independently. The spatial refractive index modulation of the gratings necessary to provide optical feedback at a fixed frequency, and simultaneously, a far-field emission pattern centered at controlled angles, was designed through use of an appropriate wavevector scattering model. Single mode terahertz (THz) emission at angles tuned by design between 0° and 50° was realized, leading to an original phase-matching approach for highly collimated THz quantum cascade lasers.

Terahertz frequency quantum cascade lasers (THz QCLs) are compact sources of coherent THz radiation with potential applications that include astronomy, trace-gas sensing, and security imaging. However, the reliance on slow and incoherent thermal detectors has limited their practical use in THz systems. We demonstrate THz sensing using self-mixing (SM) interferometry, in which radiation is reflected from an object back into the QCL cavity, causing changes in the laser properties; the THz QCL thus acts simultaneously as both a source and detector. Well-established SM theory predicts a much weaker coupling in THz QCLs than in diode lasers, yielding a near-linear relationship between the phase of SM signals and the external cavity length. We demonstrate velocimetry of an oscillating reflector by monitoring SM-induced changes in the QCL drive voltage. We show that this yields data equivalent to that obtained by sensing the emitted THz power, thus allowing phase-sensitive THz-SM sensing without any external detector. We also demonstrate high-resolution SM-imaging at a round-trip distance of 21 m in air—the longest-range interferometric sensing with a THz QCL to date.