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We present a \MF{terahertz} quantum cascade laser operating on a thermoelectric cooler up to a record-high temperature of 210.5 K. The active region design is based on only two quantum wells and achieves high temperature operation thanks to a systematic optimization by means of a nonequilibrium Green's function model. Laser spectra were measured with a room temperature detector, making the whole setup cryogenic free. At low temperatures ($\sim 40 K), a maximum output power of 200 mW was measured.

We report a device that provides coherent emission of phonon polaritons, a mixed state between photons and optical phonons in an ionic crystal. An electrically pumped GaInAs/AlInAs quantum cascade structure provides intersubband gain into the polariton mode at = 26.3 \mu m, allowing self-oscillations close to the longitudinal optical phonon energy of AlAs. Because of the large computed phonon fraction of the polariton of 65%, the emission appears directly on a Raman spectrum measurement exhibiting a Stokes and anti-Stokes component with the expected shift of 48 meV., Comment: Supplementary materials are appended at the end of the main text

Avalanche photodetectors (APDs) are key components in optical communication systems due to their increased photocurrent gain and short response time as compared to conventional photodetectors. A detector design where the multiplication region is implemented in a large bandgap material is desired to avoid detrimental Zener tunneling leakage currents, a concern otherwise in smaller bandgap materials required for absorption at 1.3/1.55 um. Self-assembled III-V semiconductor nanowires offer key advantages such as enhanced absorption due to optical resonance effects, strain-relaxed heterostructures and compatibility with main-stream silicon technology. Here, we present electrical and optical characteristics of single InP and InP/InAsP nanowire APD structures. Temperature-dependent breakdown characteristics of p+-n-n+ InP nanowire devices were investigated first. A clear trap-induced shift in breakdown voltage was inferred from I-V measurements. An improved contact formation to the p+-InP segment was observed upon annealing, and its effect on breakdown characteristics was investigated. The bandgap in the absorption region was subsequently varied from pure InP to InAsP to realize spatially separate absorption and multiplication APDs in heterostructure nanowires. In contrast to the homojunction APDs, no trap-induced shifts were observed for the heterostructure APDs. A gain of 12 was demonstrated for selective optical excitation of the InAsP segment. Additional electron beam-induced current measurements were carried out to investigate the effect of local excitation along the nanowire on the I-V characteristics. Our results provide important insight for optimization of avalanche photodetector devices based on III-V nanowires.

We report a laser that coherently emits phonon-polaritons, quasi-particles arising from the coupling between photons and transverse optical phonons. The gain is provided by an intersubband transition in a quantum cascade structure. The polaritons at h$\nu$ = 45.4meV (corresponding to an emission frequency of 10.4THz) are formed by the transverse AlAs phonon mode of monolayer thin AlInAs layers coupled to the optical modes of a Fabry-Perot cavity. The frequency location of the laser mode is in good agreement with the computed polaritonic dispersion and allows to quantify the constituent fractions of the emitted polaritons that reach a maximum of 50% for the phonon fraction. A fraction of the gain (between 2-5%) originates directly from the coupling between the intersubband and the phonon polarizations. The device exhibits a very low temperature dependence of its threshold current, as well as the capability to operate in very thin ($\lambda/20$) optical cavities., Comment: Main: 15 pages, 7 figures, Supplementary Material: 5 pages, 3 figures

We present a directly generated on-chip dual-comb source at THz frequencies. The multi-heterodyne beating signal of two free-running THz quantum cascade laser frequency combs is measured electrically using one of the combs as a detector, fully exploiting the unique characteristics of quantum cascade active regions. Up to 30 modes can be detected corresponding to a spectral bandwidth of 630 GHz, being the available bandwidth of the dual comb configuration. The multi-heterodyne signal is used to investigate the equidistance of the comb modes showing an accuracy of $10^{-12}$ at the carrier frequency of 2.5 THz.