External Modulation Of Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers Using Metamaterials

The mid-infrared domain is a promising optical domain because it holds two transparency atmospheric windows, as well as the fingerprint of many chemical compounds. Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are one of the available sources in this domain and have already been proven useful for spectroscopic applications and free-space communications. This thesis demonstrates how to implement a private free-space communication relying on mid-infrared optical chaos and this requires an accurate cartography of non-linear phenomena in quantum cascade lasers. This private transmission is made possible by the chaos synchronization of two twin QCLs. Chaos in QCLs can be generated under optical injection or external optical feedback. Depending on the parameters of the optical feedback, QCLs can exhibit several non-linear phenomena in addition to chaos. Similarities exist between QCLs and laser diodes when the chaotic dropouts are synchronized with an external modulation, and this effect is known as the entrainment phenomenon. With a cross-polarization reinjection technique, QCLs can generate all-optical square-waves. Eventually, it is possible to trigger optical extreme events in QCLs with tilted optical feedback. All these experimental results allow a better understanding of the non-linear dynamics of QCLs and will extend the potential applications of this kind of semiconductor lasers.

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are attractive for high-resolution spectroscopy because they can provide high power and a narrow linewidth. They are particularly promising in the terahertz (THz) range since they can be used as local oscillators for heterodyne detection as well as transmitters for direct detection. However, THz QCL-based technologies are still under development and are limited by the lack of frequency tunability as well as the frequency and output power stability for free-running operation. In this dissertation, frequency tuning and linewidth of THz QCLs are studied in detail by using rotational spectroscopic features of molecular species. In molecular spectroscopy, the Doppler eff ect broadens the spectral lines of molecules in the gas phase at thermal equilibrium. Saturated absorption spectroscopy has been performed that allows for sub-Doppler resolution of the spectral features. One possible application is QCL frequency stabilization based on the Lamb dip. Since the tunability of the emission frequency is an essential requirement to use THz QCL for high-resolution spectroscopy, a new method has been developed that relies on near-infrared (NIR) optical excitation of the QCL rear-facet. A wide tuning range has been achieved by using this approach. The scheme is straightforward to implement, and the approach can be readily applied to a large class of THz QCLs. The frequency and output stability of the local oscillator has a direct impact on the performance and consistency of the heterodyne spectroscopy. A technique has been developed for a simultaneous stabilization of the frequency and output power by taking advantage of the frequency and power regulation by NIR excitation. The results presented in this thesis will enable the routine use of THz QCLs for spectroscopic applications in the near future.

Terahertz quantum-cascade (QC) lasers operating at 0.6 − 5 THz (λ ∼ 60 − 500 μm) are poised to become the dominant solid-state sources of continuous-wave (cw) far-infrared radiation enabling applications in terahertz spectroscopy, imaging, and sensing. QC-lasers are the longest wavelength semiconductor laser sources in which terahertz gain is obtained from electronic intersubband radiative transitions in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure quantum wells. Since their invention in 2001, rapid development has enabled demonstration of cw powers greater than 100 mW. However, challenges still remain in the areas of operating temperature, laser efficiency and power, and beam quality to name a few. The highest-temperature operation of terahertz quantum-cascade lasers (200 K pulsed, 117 K cw) depends on the use of a low-loss "metal-metal" waveguide where the active gain material is sandwiched between two metal cladding layers; a technique similar, in concept, to microstrip transmission line technology at microwave frequencies. Due to the subwavelength transverse dimensions of the metal-metal waveguide, however, obtaining a directive beam pattern and efficient out-coupling of THz power is non-trivial. This thesis reports the demonstration of a one-dimensional waveguide for terahertz quantum-cascade lasers that acts as a leaky-wave antenna and tailors laser radiation in one dimension to a directional beam. This scheme adapts microwave transmission-line metamaterial concepts to a planar structure realized in terahertz metal-metal waveguide technology and is fundamentally different from distributed feedback/photonic crystal structures that work based on Bragg scattering of propagating modes. The leaky-wave metamaterial antenna operates based on a propagating mode with an effective phase index smaller than unity such that it radiates in the surface direction via a leaky-wave mechanism. Surface emission (∼ 40◦ from broadside) with a single directive beam (FWHM ∼ 15◦) at 2.74 THz was demonstrated from terahertz QC-lasers with leaky-wave coupler antennas which exhibited slope efficiencies ∼ 4 times greater than conventional Fabry-Perot metal-metal waveguides. Using this technique the first demonstration of beam scanning for a terahertz QC-laser was reported (from 35◦ − 60◦) as the emission frequency varied from 2.65 − 2.81 THz. Towards the bigger goal of realizing an active terahertz metamaterial to ultimately develop "zero-index" terahertz quantum-cascade lasers immune to spatial hole burning, or "negative-index" metamaterials for superresolution terahertz imaging, a composite right-/left-handed transmission-line metamaterial based upon subwavelength metal waveguide loaded with terahertz QC material was demonstrated. Due to the addition of distributed series capacitors (realized by introducing gaps in top metallization) and shunt inductors (realized by operating in the higher-order lateral mode of the waveguide), the transmission-line metamaterial exhibits left-handed (backward waves or negative index) leaky-wave propagation from 2.3 − 2.45 THz in addition to the conventional right-handed leaky-wave behavior (from 2.6 − 3.0 THz).

Learn how the rapidly expanding area of mid-infrared and terahertz photonics has been revolutionized in this comprehensive overview. State-of-the-art practical applications are supported by real-life examples and expert guidance. Also featuring fundamental theory enabling you to improve performance of both existing and future devices.

Generation and detection of microwave radiation is done with electronic systems where the underyling processes involve oscillating free charges (such as on an antenna or within a transistor or diode). On the higher energy side of the spectrum, generation and detection of near infrared and visible radiation is achieved via quantum transitions with emission wavelengths that are dictated by the material. Solutions moving up towards the THz regime using microwave based solutions are limited by carrier transit time and RC time-constant limitations. Techniques and solutions moving down toward the THz regime using photonic techniques have emission wavelengths naturally limited by the band gap of the material. However, THz quantum-cascade (QC) lasers, which are an extension of photonic concepts to lower energies, have artificially engineered energy levels and hence emission wavelengths. THz QC-lasers have been demonstrated to operate at frequencies between 1.2 and 5.0 THz and the best high-temperature operation is based upon the metal-metal (MM) waveguide configuration, in which the multiple-quantum well active region is sandwiched between two metal cladding layers, typically separated by 2-10 [mu]m. Soon after the demonstration of MM waveguide QC-lasers, it was recognized that the beam pattern from a conventional cleaved-facet Fabry Pérot (FP) ridge cavity produced a highly divergent beam pattern, characterized by concentric rings in the far field. This thesis presents work on a new approach to tailor the beam pattern of THz MM waveguide QC-devices. Namely, dispersion engineering using metamaterials based on the composite right/left-handed (CRLH) transmission line formalism is adapted to the MM waveguide configuration to realize an entirely new class of devices. Dispersion, radiative loss, and radiation patterns are presented for many newly designed 1-D and 2-D THz QC transmission line metamaterial designs. The first ever active 1-D THz QC transmisison line metamaterial is experimentally characterized and its radiation pattern and polarization closely match theoretical and full-wave finite element method (FEM) simulated predictions. Proven microwave techniques such as circuit, antenna cavity modeling and array factor theory are used to understand the radiative properties of conventional THz QC-lasers. We predict far-field beam patterns and polarizations, approximate cavity quality factors, and associate these properties with individual surfaces or structures of the device. The analysis technique is also applied to the project's 1-D and 2-D THz CRLH QC-devices yielding qualitative agreement with experiments. The first THz design, analysis and experimental verification of a metasur face comprised of an array of passive THz QC transmission lines is presented. By using the cavity model, array factor, circuit and electromagnetic theory a surface impedance model is developed to characterize the metasurface. The surface impedance model reveals waveguide mode dependent radiative coupling with the light line and capacitve/inductive surface impedance. Polarization dependent angle-resolved Fourier transform infrared reflection spectroscopy measurements match the model and full-wave FEM predictions, further assisting the understanding of such devices. To address the broader goal of a directive and scalable THz QC-device, thefeasibility of a 2-D metamaterial inspired QC-laser and an active reflectarray is considered. Finally, preliminary work on a technology enabling active metasurface reflector for a QC vertical external cavity surface emitting laser is discussed.

This book describes the physics, fabrication technology, and applications of the quantum cascade laser.

Terahertz quantum cascade lasers are compact, coherent sources of THz power that have drawn considerable attention in the past 10-15 years for their potential use in THz applications such as spectroscopy and imaging. One of the key developments required to further the usefulness of THz QCLs is robust, broadband tenability. In this work, I describe a new technique for tuning THz QCLs by incorporation MEMS fixed-fixed and fixed-free cantilever beams into a THz transmission line metamaterial resonant cavity. An analytic model for such THz transmission line metamaterials is demonstrated using transmission line theory and is supported by 2-D and 3-D finite element simulations. Proposed processes for fabricating tunable THz transmission line metamaterials are outlined and current progress on actual fabrication and device testing is reported.

The invention of optical frequency combs generated by mode-locked lasers revolutionized time and frequency metrology in the late 1990s. This concept has been explored in several laser systems; the quantum cascade laser (QCL) is one such system that operates in the terahertz (THz) frequency range.THz QCL was first invented in 2001 as a reliable semiconductor source for compact, high-power THz radiation. The inherently strong third-order nonlinearity in its QC-gain medium allows for spontaneous frequency comb formation as a result of spatial hole burning induced by Fabry-Perot cavities and four-wave mixing, which synchronizes the dispersed cavity modes. It was noticed that the self-generated combs are naturally frequency-modulated with quasi-continuous power output, whereas amplitude-modulated combs, i.e., mode-locking, are considered challenging in THz QCLs because of the inherent fast gain recovery time. One effective method to trigger active mode-locking is RF injection locking. It involves injecting RF current modulation into the QC-device at a frequency that is close to the cavity round-trip frequency. This locks the spacing between adjacent lasing modes, and pulses with a duration of 4-5 ps have been reported. In recent years, the study of frequency comb/mode-locking in THz QCLs has raised increasing interest because of its potential for a number of applications, including astronomy, biomedicine, fast spectroscopy, non-invasive imaging, and non-destructive evaluation. So far, research has concentrated on ridge-waveguide and ring QCLs. On the other hand, THz quantum-cascade vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting-laser (QC-VECSEL) was introduced in 2015 as a novel external cavity configuration of THz QCLs.The key concept of THz QC-VECSEL is to engineer its gain chip into a millimeter-scale reflectarray metasurface for free-space THz radiation and further incorporation into a resonant laser cavity as an active reflector. This enables watt-level output power with near-Gaussian distributed beam quality; versatile functionality may be incorporated into the amplifying metasurface; and broadband frequency tunability is provided by the VECSEL architecture. Despite the fact that VECSELs are widely used for mode-locking at near-infrared and optical frequencies, THz QC-VECSELs have not yet been exploited in frequency comb and mode-locking applications. In this thesis, we report for the first time the techniques utilized to achieve frequency comb/mode-locking operations in THz QC-VECSELs. Both the metasurface design and VECSEL cavity geometry are optimized for this purpose. The double-patch metasurface design is considered optimal for broadband frequency response and low dispersion, and a well-designed RF package is needed for efficient RF signal injection and extraction. On the other hand, an off-axis parabolic (OAP) mirror is introduced to build a V-shaped intra-cryostat focusing VECSEL cavity. This OAP-focusing cavity design eliminates most of the intra-cavity diffraction losses and, therefore, enables lasing in an ultra-long external cavity using a small-sized metasurface that supports continuous wave (CW) biasing. It is highly suited for frequency comb/mode-locking applications as the cavity round-trip frequency is lowered to a typical value of 3-5 GHz. In contrast to ridge-waveguide or ring QCLs, self-generated frequency combs have not been observed in THz QC-VECSELs --- in fact, they prefer to lase in a single-mode regime primarily due to a lack of spatial hole burning.To promote multimode operation in THz QC-VECSELs, we present a technique based on a specific combination of output coupler thickness and external cavity length. Through Vernier selection and reflectance compensation in a cascaded Fabry-Perot cavity, we are able to perform simultaneous nine modes lasing with a free-spectral range (FSR) of ~21 GHz. The number of lasing modes that can be generated using this method is limited by the maximum available output coupler thickness. A more effective way to promote multimoding, as well as possible frequency comb or even mode-locking operations, is through RF injection locking.The successful demonstration of RF injection locking in THz QC-VECSELs for the first time is the main focus of this thesis. Lasing spectral broadening has been observed under strong RF modulation, with a maximum bandwidth of around 100-300 GHz. An intermodal beat-note is produced as a result of beating between each of the two lasing modes. It is locked to the RF injection signal as the injection frequency is tuned around the cavity round-trip frequency. This suggests that the lasing modes are equally spaced, which is a prerequisite of frequency comb/mode-locking. Several impacting factors, including metasurface design, external cavity length, and optical feedback, are experimentally investigated in the RF-injection locked QC-VECSELs, which may help control and tune the laser states. THz QC-VECSEL is consequently considered to be a superior platform that enables a more thorough investigation of the fundamental physics of mode-locking/frequency comb operation in QCL systems. Our research on mode-locked THz QC-VECSELs opens the way for future development of semiconductor lasers operating in the 2-5 THz region that produce picosecond-scale pulses.

A state-of-the-art overview of this rapidly expanding field, featuring fundamental theory, practical applications, and real-life examples.