Buried heterostructure 2.9-THz quantum cascade lasers operating up to 77K in continuous wave

Jesse Alton; Sukhdeep Dhillon; Stefano Barbieri; Harvey E. Beere; Michel Calligaro; Alfredo de Rossi; David A. Ritchie; Carlo Sirtori; Edmund H. Linfield

doi:10.1117/12.590790

1 April 2005 Buried heterostructure 2.9-THz quantum cascade lasers operating up to 77K in continuous wave

Jesse Alton, Sukhdeep Dhillon, Stefano Barbieri, Harvey E. Beere, Michel Calligaro, Alfredo de Rossi, David A. Ritchie, Carlo Sirtori, Edmund H. Linfield

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5738, Novel In-Plane Semiconductor Lasers IV; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.590790
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2005, 2005, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

In this work we demonstrate for the first time that terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers can be realised in a buried-waveguide geometry. In our prototype devices the optical mode is a surface plasmon bound at the interface between the top contact and the semiconductor, providing for both vertical and lateral confinement without the need to define a cavity ridge. Proton-implanted high-resistivity sections are used to define the current channel where electrons can be injected into the active region. This way the electrical and optical confinement can be controlled independently: the former is defined by the non-implanted regions and the latter by the width of the top contact metal strip. Compared to standard ridge waveguides this technique allowed for a narrowing of the device effective cross section without introducing additional losses and improving the thermal conductivity, resulting in an increase of the maximum operating temperature up to 77K in continuous wave at 2.9 THz. In addition, we present preliminary results from buried-waveguide THz quantum cascade lasers obtained by combining a double-metal waveguide geometry with proton implantation. Initial results are promising, yielding record low threshold currents of 19mA at 4.2K in both pulsed and continuous wave operation.

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Jesse Alton, Sukhdeep Dhillon, Stefano Barbieri, Harvey E. Beere, Michel Calligaro, Alfredo de Rossi, David A. Ritchie, Carlo Sirtori, and Edmund H. Linfield "Buried heterostructure 2.9-THz quantum cascade lasers operating up to 77K in continuous wave", Proc. SPIE 5738, Novel In-Plane Semiconductor Lasers IV, (1 April 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.590790

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KEYWORDS

Waveguides

Metals

Terahertz radiation

Quantum cascade lasers

Continuous wave operation

Surface plasmons

Electrons

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