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Applied Physics Letters / Volume 96 / Issue 10 / LASERS, OPTICS, AND OPTOELECTRONICS
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Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 101106 (2010); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3358134 (3 pages)

Phase-locked arrays of surface-emitting terahertz quantum-cascade lasers

Tsung-Yu Kao1, Qing Hu1, and John L. Reno2

1Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
2Department 1123, Sandia National Laboratories, MS 0601, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-0601, USA

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(Received 11 January 2010; accepted 16 February 2010; published online 10 March 2010)

We report the demonstration of phase-locked arrays of surface-emitting distributed-feedback (DFB) terahertz quantum-cascade lasers with single-mode operations. Carefully designed “phase sector” locks several surface-emitting DFB laser ridges in-phase, creating tighter beam-patterns along the phased-array direction with full width at half maximum (FWHM) ≈ 10°. In addition, the phase sector can be individually biased to provide a mechanism of frequency tuning through gain-induced optical index change, without significantly affecting the output power levels. A tuning range of 1.5 GHz around 3.9 THz was achieved. This fine tunability could be utilized to frequency- or phase-lock the DFB array to an external reference.

© 2010 American Institute of Physics

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

distributed feedback lasers, quantum cascade lasers, surface emitting lasers, terahertz wave generation

PACS

  • 42.55.Px

    Semiconductor lasers; laser diodes

  • 42.60.By

    Design of specific laser systems

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3358134

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0003-6951 (print)  
1077-3118 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

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Figures (click on thumbnails to view enlargements)

FIG.1
(a) Diagram of a three-ridge surface-emitting DFB array. (b) Computed surface losses vs eigenfrequencies from three-dimensional finite-element method simulations on the same array. For the particular length of the phase sector used in the simulation, the in-phase mode (a) has the lowest surface loss. Adjacent mode (b) and out-of-phase mode (c) are also labeled. The insets show the far-field beam-patterns along the array direction for in-phase and out-of-phase modes. (c) Computed transverse magnetic fields for different spatial modes and their corresponding H-field magnitude diagrams along x direction.

FIG.1 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.2
Pulsed I-V curves from a single ridge DFB laser (solid line, near bottom) and a six-ridge DFB array (solid line, near top). The scaled I-V curve of the single-ridge device (dotted line) is also shown. The Jth of six-ridge device is 815 A/cm2 as compared with 810 A/cm2 of the single-ridge device. The emission spectra from the six-ridge device are single-mode at all biases. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) picture of a similar array device is also shown in the inset. The main laser ridges and the phase sectors have different bonding pads (labeled as A and B in the picture, respectively).

FIG.2 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.3
Far-field (20 cm) beam-patterns along array direction (x) (solid circles) and simple point source simulation using measured emission frequencies ( ∼ 127.5 cm−1) and the distance (100 μm) between ridges (solid line) for different laser arrays. For single-ridge device, the simulated curve is the diffraction pattern of a single slit with the width of ridge. From top to bottom: single-ridge laser, a double-ridge array operated in the out-of-phase mode, another double-ridge array operated in the in-phase mode, and the six-ridge array (as shown in Fig. 2). The THz emission image from the six-ridge array taken by the microbolometer camera used in Ref. 19 is shown in the inset. The one-dimensional beam-pattern was measured along the dotted line.

FIG.3 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.4
Frequency shift of the emission from a seven-ridge array vs dc biases on the phase sectors. Pulsed L-I-V measurements of main laser ridges (inset) and a closer look of the phase sectors (SEM picture).

FIG.4 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint



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