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Terahertz spectroscopy is a perfect tool to investigate the electronic intraband conductivity of graphene, but a phenom-enological model (Drude-Smith) is often needed to describe disorder. By studying the THz response of isotropically strained polycrystalline graphene and using a fully atomistic computational approach to fit the results, we demonstrate here the connection between the Drude-Smith parameters and the microscopic behavior. Importantly, we clearly show that the strain-induced changes in the conductivity originate mainly from the increased separation between the single-crystal grains, leading to enchanced localization of the plasmon excitations. Only at the lowest strain values explored, a behavior consistent with the deformation of the individual grains can instead be observed.

In this work, we present the operation of a femtosecond-laser-written diode-pumped visible waveguide laser based on praseodymium-doped lithium lutetium fluoride. The refractive index modification induced by the femtosecond laser in the crystal exhibits an anisotropic behavior, thus enabling the fabrication of different types of waveguides from single-track structures to stress-induced waveguides and depressed cladding structures. All the waveguides were characterized by realizing transmission measurements and the waveguide design was optimized to obtain extremely low propagation losses, equal to 0.12 dB/cm. Lasing has been achieved at 604 nm and 721 nm from different waveguides. In addition, stable continuous-wave lasing at 698 nm has been obtained in a depressed cladding waveguide. This wavelength corresponds to the one needed for the transition of the atomic clock based on the neutral strontium atom. In the end, we report the observation of laser emission at 645 nm from a depressed cladding waveguide.

The continuously increasing interest in flexible and integrated photonics requires new strategies for device manufacturing on arbitrary complex surfaces and with smallest possible size, respectively. Terahertz (THz) technology can particularly benefit from this achievement to make compact systems for emission, detection and on-demand manipulation of THz radiation. Here, we present a novel fabrication method to realize conformable terahertz metasurfaces. The flexible and versatile character of polymeric nanomembranes is combined with direct laser writing via two-photon polymerization to develop free-standing ultra-thin quasi-perfect plasmonic absorbers with an unprecedentedly high level of conformability. Moreover, revealing new flexible dielectric materials presenting low absorption and permittivity in the THz range, this work paves the way for the realization of ultra-thin, conformable hybrid or all-dielectric devices to enhance and enlarge the application of THz technologies, and flexible photonics in general.

In this Letter we report the realization of a femtosecond-laser-written diode-pumped Pr:LiLuF4 visible waveguide laser. The waveguide studied in this work consisted of a depressed-index cladding, whose design and fabrication were optimized to minimize the propagation loss. Laser emission has been achieved at 604 nm and 721 nm, with output power of 86 mW and 60 mW, respectively, and slope efficiencies of 16% and 14%. In addition, we obtained, for the first time in a praseodymium-based waveguide laser, stable continuous-wave laser operation at 698 nm (3 mW of output power and 0.46% of slope efficiency), corresponding to the wavelength necessary for the clock transition of the strontium-based atomic clock. The waveguide laser emission at this wavelength is mainly in the fundamental mode (i.e., the larger propagation constant mode) showing a nearly Gaussian intensity profile.

The interaction between graphene surface plasmons and a semiconductor quantum well has been investigated by means of scattering matrix simulations. Due to the strong confinement factor of the graphene layer, a large Rabi splitting arises from the interaction with intersubband transitions. By varying the Fermi energy in the graphene and the doping in the quantum well, the resulting polariton states show features of strong and ultra-strong coupling. The system has been modeled with the coupled-mode theory to find the highest quality factor for the polariton resonance, reaching a “highly resolved” ultra-strong coupling regime.

The effectiveness of self-mixing interferometry has been demonstrated across the electromagnetic spectrum, from visible to microwave frequencies, in a plethora of sensing applications, ranging from distance measurement to material analysis, microscopy and coherent imaging. Owing to their intrinsic stability to optical feedback, quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) represent a source that offers unique and versatile characteristics to further improve the self-mixing functionality at mid infrared and terahertz (THz) frequencies. Here, we show the feasibility of detecting with nanometer precision deeply subwalength (< {\lambda}/6000) mechanical vibrations of a suspended Si3N4-membrane used as the external element of a THz QCL feedback interferometric apparatus. Besides representing a platform for the characterization of small displacements, our self-mixing configuration can be exploited for the realization of optomechanical systems, where several laser sources can be linked together through a common mechanical microresonator actuated by radiation pressure., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

Water availability is a major limiting factor in plant productivity and plays a key role in plant species distribution over a given area. New technologies, such as terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz-QCLs) have proven to be non-invasive, effective, and accurate tools for measuring and monitoring leaf water content. This study explores the feasibility of using an advanced THz-QCL device for measuring the absolute leaf water content in Corylus avellana L., Laurus nobilis L., Ostrya carpinifolia Scop., Quercus ilex L., Quercus suber L., and Vitis vinifera L. (cv. Sangiovese). A recently proposed, simple spectroscopic technique was used, consisting in determining the transmission of the THz light beam through the leaf combined with a photographic measurement of the leaf area. A significant correlation was found between the product of the leaf optical depth (&tau, ) and the leaf surface area (LA) with the leaf water mass (Mw) for all the studied species (Pearson&rsquo, s r test, p &le, 0.05). In all cases, the best fit regression line, in the graphs of &tau, LA as a function of Mw, displayed R2 values always greater than 0.85. The method proposed can be combined with water stress indices of plants in order to gain a better understanding of the leaf water management processes or to indirectly monitor the kinetics of leaf invasion by pathogenic bacteria, possibly leading to the development of specific models to study and fight them.

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) represent a most promising compact source at terahertz (THz) frequencies, but efficiency of their continuous wave (CW) operation still needs to be improved to achieve large-scale exploitation. Here, we demonstrate highly efficient operation of a subwavelength microcavity laser consisting of two evanescently coupled whispering gallery microdisk resonators. Exploiting a dual injection scheme for the laser cavity, single mode CW vertical emission at 3.3 THz is obtained at 10 K with 6.4 mA threshold current and 145 mW/A slope efficiency up to 320 μ W emitted power measured in quasi-CW mode. The tuning of the laser emission directionality is also obtained by independently varying the pumping strength between the microdisks. By connecting the resonators through a suspended gold bridge, the laser out-coupling efficiency in the vertical direction is strongly enhanced. Owing to the high brightness, low-power consumption and CW operation, the proposed microcavity laser design could allow the realization of high-performance CW THz QCLs ready for massive parallelization.

The interplay between interference and absorption leads to interesting phenomena like coherent perfect absorption and coherent perfect transparency (CPA and CPT), which can be exploited for fully optical modulation. While it is known that it is possible to harness CPA and CPT for switching a strong signal beam with a weak control beam, it is not immediate that this process su ers from a fundamental compromise between the device e ciency (quantified by device loss and modulation depth) and the asymmetry between signal and control intensity desired for operation. This article quantifies this compromise and outlines a possible way to overcome it by means of a combination of optical gain and loss in the same photonic component. A general formulation and a specific device realization are both discussed. © 2018 Optical Society of America.

Photodetectors exploiting photoejected hot electrons have the potential to achieve ultrahigh sensitivity and broadband detection capabilities, which are controlled by the structure of the device rather than the bandgap of the employed materials. However, the achievement of photodetectors of long-wavelength photons with both high responsivity and bandwidth is still challenging. Here, a novel class of high-gain photodetectors based on the manipulation of intrinsic hot carriers by exploiting the electromagnetic engineering of a graphene-based active channel is presented. Light field is focused in a split-finger gated structure to create a potential gradient in the channel, which is able to trap and detrap the charges laterally transferred from low resistive Au-graphene interface, finally leading to a high photoconductive gain. Correspondingly, the device activity can be easily switched from photovoltaic to photoconductive, depending on the photoinduced hot-carrier distribution, just by controlling the electric field. The device shows tunable sensitivity, higher energy efficiency, and photoconductive gain. In particular, the responsivity (0.6-6.0 kV W-1) and the noise-equivalent power (less than 0.1 nW Hz-0.5 at room temperature) are significantly improved even at low-energy terahertz band with respect to state-of-the-art devices based on extrinsically coupled hot carriers operating in the near infrared. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

In the present article we numerically investigated the magneto-optical behaviour of a sub-wavelength structure composed by a monolayer graphene and a metallic metasurface of optical resonators. Using this hybrid graphene-metal structure, a large increase of the non-reciprocal polarization rotation of graphene can be achieved over a broad range of terahertz frequencies. We demonstrate that the symmetry of the resonator geometry plays a key role for the performance of the system: in particular, increasing the symmetry of the resonator the non-reciprocal properties can be progressively enhanced. Moreover, the possibility to exploit the metallic metasurface as a voltage gate to vary the graphene Fermi energy allows the system working point to be tuned to the desired frequency range. Another peculiar result is the achievement of a structure able to operate both in transmission and reflection with almost the same performance, but in a different frequency range of operation. The described system is hence a sub-wavelength, tunable, multifunctional, effective non-reciprocal element in the terahertz region.

Electromagnetic fields coupled with mechanical degrees of freedom have recently shown exceptional and innovative applications, ultimately leading to mesoscopic optomechanical devices operating in the quantum regime of motion. Simultaneously, micromechanical elements have provided new ways to enhance and manipulate the optical properties of passive photonic elements. Following this concept, in this article we show how combining a chiral metasurface with a GaAs suspended micromembrane can offer new scenarios for controlling the polarization state of near-infrared light beams. Starting from the uncommon properties of chiral metasurface to statically realize target polarization states and circular and linear dichroism, we report mechanically induced, ~300 kHz polarization modulation, which favorably compares, in terms of speed, with liquid-crystals commercial devices. Moreover, we demonstrate how the mechanical resonance can be non-trivially affected by the input light polarization (and chiral state) via a thermoelastic effect triggered by intracavity photons. This work inaugurates the field of Polarization Optomechanics, which could pave the way to fast polarimetric devices, polarization modulators and dynamically tunable chiral state generators and detectors, as well as giving access to new form of polarization nonlinearities and control.

Graphene is establishing itself as a new photonic material with huge potential in a variety of applications ranging from transparent electrodes in displays and photovoltaic modules to saturable absorber in mode-locked lasers. Its peculiar bandstructure and electron transport characteristics naturally suggest graphene could also form the basis for a new generation of high-performance devices operating in the terahertz (THz) range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The region between 300 GHz and 10 THz is in fact still characterized by a lack of efficient, compact, solid state photonic components capable of operating well at 300 K. Recent works have already shown very promising results in the development of high-speed modulators as well as of bolometer and plasma-wave detectors. Furthermore, several concepts have been proposed aiming at the realization of lasers and oscillators. This paper will review the latest achievements in graphene-based THz photonics and discuss future perspectives of this rapidly developing research field. Graphene is establishing itself as a new photonic material with huge potential in a variety of applications ranging from transparent electrodes in displays and photovoltaic modules to saturable absorber in mode-locked lasers. Its peculiar bandstructure and electron transport characteristics naturally suggest graphene could also form the basis for a new generation of high-performance devices operating in the terahertz (THz) range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The region between 300 GHz and 10 THz is in fact still characterized by a lack of efficient, compact, solid state photonic components capable of operating well at 300 K. Recent works have already shown very promising results in the development of high-speed modulators as well as of bolometer and plasma-wave detectors. Furthermore, several concepts have been proposed aiming at the realization of lasers and oscillators. This paper will review the latest achievements in graphene-based THz photonics and discuss future perspectives of this rapidly developing research field. © 2013 IEEE.

Resonators and the way they couple to external radiation rely on very different concepts if one considers devices belonging to the photonic and electronic worlds. The terahertz frequency range, however, provides intriguing possibilities for the development of hybrid technologies that merge ideas from both fields in novel functional designs. In this paper, we show that high-quality, subwavelength, whispering-gallery lasers can be combined to form a linear dipole antenna, which creates a very efficient, low-threshold laser emission in a collimated beam pattern. For this purpose, we employ a terahertz quantum-cascade active region patterned into two 19-μm-radius microdisks coupled by a suspended metallic bridge, which simultaneously acts as an inductive antenna and produces the dipole symmetry of the lasing mode. Continuous-wave vertical emission is demonstrated at approximately 3.5 THz in a very regular, low-divergence (±10°) beam, with a high slope efficiency of at least 160 mW A â '1 and a mere 6 mA of threshold current, which is ensured by the ultra-small resonator size (V RES/Î" 3 â ‰10 â '2). The extremely low power consumption and the superior beam brightness make this concept very promising for the development of miniaturized and portable THz sources to be used in the field for imaging and sensing applications as well as for exploring novel optomechanical intracavity effects.

Analytical formulas are derived describing the coherent absorption of light from a realistic multilayer structure composed by an optically conducting surface on a sup- porting substrate. The model predicts two fundamental results. First, the absorption regime named coherent perfect transparency theoretically can always be reached. Second, the optical conductance of the surface can be extrapolated from absorption experimental data even when the substrate thickness is unknown. The theoretical predictions are experimentally verified by analyzing a multilayer graphene structure grown on a silicon carbide substrate. The graphene thickness estimated through the coherent absorption technique resulted in good agreement with the values obtained by two other spectroscopic techniques. Thanks to the high spatial resolution that can be reached and high sensitivity to the probed structure thickness, coherent absorp- tion spectroscopy represents an accurate and non-destructive diagnostic method for the spatial mapping of the optical properties of two-dimensional materials and of metasurfaces on a wafer scale.

This publisher’s note corrects the funding declaration in J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 37, 19 (2020)JOBPDE0740-322410.1364/JOSAB.37.000019.

Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy and imaging have been heralded for some time as potentially revolutionary techniques for biomedical applications. Label-free detection of molecules and recognition of molecular events are often mentioned as the most exciting possibilities. A crucial practical goal, however, is the ability to perform such measurements on tiny amounts of biological fluids or even on individual organic structures. Living cells, for instance, have diameters at most of some tens of micrometers, i.e. at least λ/10 even for few-THz radiation. Furthermore, all analyses relevant for a biological perspective must be performed in a water environment, which presents a strong absorption across the whole THz spectral range, severely limiting the penetration of the electromagnetic field. Here, it is shown how both issues can be overcome with a lab-on-a-chip approach based on a microfluidic platform coupled to a plasmonic antenna. Using a quantum cascade laser as THz illumination source, liquid volumes down to the picoliter range are probed, and direct operation on individual 10-μm diameter microparticles flowing in water is shown. The present demonstration opens the way to the development of THz biosensing of individual living cells and small probe volumes. A THz lab-on-a-chip device based on a microfluidic platform coupled to an integrated plasmonic antenna is shown. Using a quantum cascade laser as illumination source, liquid volumes down to the picoliter range are probed. A proof-of-concept experiment is performed in which single 10-μm diameter (∼ λ/10) microparticles flowing in water are identified and investigated. The present demonstration opens the way to the development of THz biosensing of individual living cells and small probe volumes.

We investigate the nonlinear transmission of a ~280-layer turbostratic graphene sheet for near-infrared amplifier laser pulses (775 nm, Ti:sapphire laser) with a duration of 150-fs and 20-fs. Saturable absorption is observed in both cases, however it is not very strong, amounting to ~13% transmittance change for the 20-fs (150-fs) pulses at a peak intensity of 30 GW/cm2 (4 GW/cm2). The dependence on incident peak intensity is reproduced well using a theoretical model for the time-dependent saturable absorption, where the excited carriers vacate the photo-excited energy range within 3-5 fs, which we attribute to energy redistribution due to carrier-carrier scattering. This is also supported by spectrally resolved measurements for the 20-fs pulses, which show a marked dependence of the degree of saturation on the photon energy. A key result is that the shorter pulses do not yield a lower saturation fluence, due to the combined effects of the broader excitation bandwidth, and the rapid and broad energy redistribution. We also predict the potential performance of multilayer graphene samples for removing pedestal and pre-pulse structure from ultrafast high-energy pulses.

In order to extend the Coherent Perfect Absorption (CPA) phenomenology to broadband operation, the interferometric control of absorption is investigated in two-port systems without port permutation symmetry. Starting from the two-port theory of CPA treated within the Scattering Matrix formalism, we demonstrate that for all linear two-port systems with reciprocity the absorption is represented by an ellipse as function of the relative phase and intensity of the two input beams, and it is uniquely determined by the device single-beam reflectance and transmittance, and by the dephasing of the output beams. The basic properties of the phenomenon in systems without port permutation symmetry show that CPA conditions can still be found in such asymmetric devices, while the asymmetry can be beneficial for broadband operation. As experimental proof, we performed transmission measurements on a metal-semiconductor metamaterial, employing a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The experimental results clearly evidence the elliptical feature of absorption and trace a route towards broadband operation. In order to extend the Coherent Perfect Absorption (CPA) phenomenology to broadband operation, the interferometric control of absorption is investigated in two-port systems without port permutation symmetry. Starting from the two-port theory of CPA treated within the Scattering Matrix formalism, we demonstrate that for all linear two-port systems with reciprocity the absorption is represented by an ellipse as function of the relative phase and intensity of the two input beams, and it is uniquely determined by the device single-beam reflectance and transmittance, and by the dephasing of the output beams. The basic properties of the phenomenon in systems without port permutation symmetry show that CPA conditions can still be found in such asymmetric devices, while the asymmetry can be beneficial for broadband operation. As experimental proof, we performed transmission measurements on a metal-semiconductor metamaterial, employing a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The experimental results clearly evidence the elliptical feature of absorption and trace a route towards broadband operation. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

We fabricate and characterize a microscale silicon opto-electro-mechanical system whose mechanical motion is coupled capacitively to an electrical circuit and optically via radiation pressure to a photonic crystal cavity. To achieve large electromechanical interaction strength, we implement an inverse shadow mask fabrication scheme which obtains capacitor gaps as small as 30 nm while maintaining a silicon surface quality necessary for minimizing optical loss. Using the sensitive optical read-out of the photonic crystal cavity, we characterize the linear and nonlinear capacitive coupling to the fundamental omega(m)/2 pi - 63 MHz in-plane flexural motion of the structure, showing that the large electromechanical coupling in such devices may be suitable for realizing efficient microwave-to-optical signal conversion. We fabricate and characterize a microscale silicon opto-electromechanical system whose mechanical motion is coupled capacitively to an electrical circuit and optically via radiation pressure to a photonic crystal cavity. To achieve large electromechanical interaction strength, we implement an inverse shadow mask fabrication scheme which obtains capacitor gaps as small as 30 nm while maintaining a silicon surface quality necessary for minimizing optical loss. Using the sensitive optical read-out of the photonic crystal cavity, we characterize the linear and nonlinear capacitive coupling to the fundamental ωm=2π = 63 MHz in-plane flexural motion of the structure, showing that the large electromechanical coupling in such devices may be suitable for realizing efficient microwave-to-optical signal conversion.

Coherent Perfect Absorption is discussed in the context of strongly-coupled polariton systems. It occurs when the cavity loss rate matches the material one, as demonstrated for intersubband transitions in a photonic crystal resonator.

There is presently a lack of efficient, compact, solid-state sources for the spectral range 1-10 THz, also known as the "terahertz gap". In fact Gunn diodes fail at such high frequencies, while, from the other side, conventional semiconductor lasers are limited to the mid-infrared. Intersubband or interminiband transitions, which constitute the basis of the very successful quantum cascade (QC) lasers, possess the potential for the efficient generation of far-infrared light, although many important physical questions have to be addressed in the case of THz transition frequencies. Furthermore, the problem of confining long wavelength radiation inside waveguides with thickness compatible with existing growing techniques, minimizing at the same time the absorption losses, poses an interesting technological challenge. Recent significant progresses in this direction are presented here. Surface plasmon modes at the interface between a metal and the semiconductor are exploited in the design of a high performance lambda similar to 17 mum (17.6 THz) superlattice QC laser. Thanks to adoption of this novel waveguide the total epitaxial thickness of the structure is reduced by a factor of 2 with respect to a conventional waveguide with semiconductor claddings. The emission is made single mode with the adoption of a dual-metal Bragg grating which modulates the skin depth of the surface plasmon. The same approach is used in the realization of a lambda similar to 19 mum (15.8 THz) QC laser, which represents the longest wavelength III-V semiconductor laser to date. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The cascading scheme is a characteristic feature of quantum cascade (QC) lasers. It implies that electrons above threshold generate one photon per active region they successively traverse, This paper presents a study of the cascading behavior as a function of the number N of stacked active regions. Experimental results are presented for devices with N = 1, 3, 6, 12, 20, 30, 45, 60, and 75 active stages. The highest optical power and lowest threshold current density are obtained for laser devices with N as high as possible. However, the lowest threshold voltage and the lowest dissipated power at laser threshold are achieved for N = 3 and N = 22, respectively. We further present the highest power QC lasers so far, which, using N = 75 stages, show in pulsed mode peak powers of 1.4, 1.1, and 0.54 W at 50 K, 200 K, and room temperature, respectively, Finally, we also demonstrate the first few-stage (N < 10) QC lasers. These QC lasers show strongly reduced operating voltages. A threshold voltage around 1.5 V is achieved for N = 3. This makes the lasers very well compliant with conventional laser diode drivers, which in turn mill simplify their immediate use in systems and applications.

Superlattice quantum cascade (QC) lasers based on optical transitions between conduction minibands are unipolar semiconductor lasers with high-current-carrying capability and attendant high optical power due to miniband transport in the active and in the injector regions. Other advantages include the intrinsic population inversion associated with the large interminiband-to-intraminiband relaxation time ratio and the high oscillator strength of the laser transition at the superlattice Brillouin zone boundary. This oscillator strength is significantly larger than that of intersubband transitions in double-quantum-well active regions of conventional cascade lasers, particularly at long infrared wavelengths (/spl ges/10 /spl mu/m). Following a brief review of results on conventional QC lasers, design considerations for superlattice cascade lasers are discussed, along with recent advances in long-wavelength (11 /spl mu/m) structures with doped active regions. Dopants broaden the gain spectrum and increase the laser threshold. Two laser designs that avoid doping of the active regions without causing electric-field-induced localization of the superlattice states are then presented, along with experimental results. In the first one, modulation doping creates a space-charge electric field that compensates the voltage drop across the undoped superlattice active regions. In the second scheme, the latter are designed with quantum wells of varying thickness (chirped superlattice), so that under application of the external field, the localized quantum well states overlap, forming minibands. Both schemes lend to considerably lower threshold current densities than devices with doped active regions, as well as to much higher peak optical power and to room-temperature operation. A record peak power of 500 mW at /spl lambda/=7.6 /spl mu/m at room temperature is obtained with the chirped design. The latter also leads to the longest operating wavelength of any other QC laser (17 /spl mu/m). The last section of the paper describes superlattice cascade lasers operating simultaneously at two or more widely different wavelengths.

Photonic components based on structured metallic elements show great potential for device applications where field enhancement and confinement of the radiation on a subwavelength scale is required. In this paper, we report on a detailed study of a prototypical metallo-dielectric photonic structure, where features well known in the world of dielectric photonic crystals such as bandgaps and defect modes are exported to the metallic counterpart. Such a structure may have interesting applications in infrared science and technology, for instance, in quantum well infrared photodetectors, narrowband spectral filters, and tailorable thermal emitters.

We report on the implementation of a confocal microscopy system based on a 2.9 THz quantum cascade laser source. Lateral and axial resolutions better than 70 mu m and 400 mu m, respectively, are achieved, with a large contrast enhancement compared to the non-confocal arrangement. The capability of resolving overlapping objects lying on different longitudinal planes is also clearly demonstrated.

Various resonators for surface emission are reviewed that have recently been developed to improve radiative- and collection-efficiencies of terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz QCL). While the fabrication of waveguides for long wavelengths is challenging in terms of molecular beam epitaxy, long wavelengths also provide a wonderful testbed for new photonics structure concepts, since these can be easily produced by conventional optical lithography because of the typically large size of the required features. This led to novel geometries, like one-and two-dimensional non-periodic photonic crystals, or circular gratings for microdisk- and ring-lasers, which are all implemented by simply patterning the top metal cladding of a metal-metal wave-guide. The modeling of such resonators with the finite element method is also described, highlighting the importance of this tool for the engineering of surface losses and far-field patterns.

We have realized a differential Near-field Scanning Optical Microscope (NSOM) working with subwavelength resolution in the THz spectral region. The system employs a quantum cascade laser emitting at lambda approximately 105 microm as source, and the method, differently from conventional NSOM, involves diffracting apertures with size comparable to the wavelength. This concept ensures a higher signal-to-noise level at the expense of an additional computational step. In the implementation here reported lambda/10 resolution has been achieved; present limiting factors are investigated through finite difference time domain simulations.

Although lasers have found numerous applications, their design is often still based on the concept of a gain medium within a mirror cavity. Exceptions to this are distributed feedback lasers1, in which feedback develops along a periodic structure, or random lasers, which do not require any form of cavity2. Random lasers have very rich emission spectra, but are difficult to control. Distributed feedback devices, conversely, have the same limited design possibilities of regular lasers. We show, by making use of a quasi-crystalline structure in an electrically pumped device, that several advantages of a random laser can be combined with the predictability of a distributed feedback resonator. We have constructed a terahertz quantum cascade laser based on a Fibonacci distributed feedback sequence, and show that engineering of the self-similar spectrum of the grating allows features beyond those possible with traditional periodic resonators, such as directional output independent of the emission frequency and multicolour operation. Researchers have constructed a terahertz quantum cascade laser using quasi-periodic distributed feedback gratings based on the Fibonacci sequence. Features that go beyond traditional distributed feedback lasers are demonstrated, such as directional output independent of the emission frequency and multicolour operation.

We show that a distributed-feedback terahertz quantum cascade laser can be tuned with a coupled microcavity by anti-crossing of the respective eigenfrequencies. In this proof-of-concept experiment, a tuning range of 20 GHz is obtained, in good agreement with a simple finite element model, which shows that the tuning is determined by the coupling strength between the resonators. The concept could be applied to any laser cavity, but becomes progressively more attractive the lower the emission frequency.

We analyze surface-emitting distributed feedback resonators for Terahertz quantum cascade lasers fabricated from double-metal waveguides. We explain the influence on resonances and surface-emission properties of the finite length and width of the gratings in connection with absorbing boundary conditions, and show that, contrary to the infinite case, the modes on either side of the photonic band-gap have finite surface losses. The lateral design of the resonator is shown to be important to avoid transverse modes of higher order and anti-guiding effects. Experimental findings are indeed in excellent agreement with the simulations. Both modeling and fabrication can easily be applied to arbitrary gratings, of which we discuss here a first interesting example.

THz-sensing is an emerging technology that would be advantageous for a variety of applications in industry, biology, biochemistry and security, if small and convenient to use sources and detectors would be readily available. However, most of them are bulky, complicate to operate, and need cryogenic cooling. Here we present a new detection scheme that is versatile enough to detect electro-magnetic radiation within the whole spectrum, can be easily applied to the THz-range, and operates at room temperature. The mechanism is based on the resonant excitation of a quartz tuning fork. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

In microdisk lasers(1-3) a ring resonator is formed by successive total internal reflections inside a circularly shaped waveguide. The photon lifetime of the resulting whispering gallery optical modes is limited mainly by the waveguide absorption. Light is usually coupled out by tunnelling owing to the disk curvature or through imperfections at the border, but the output power is hard to exploit in a potential application because the emission is mainly in the disk plane and isotropic. Here we realize vertically emitting whispering gallery lasers by implementing appropriate diffraction gratings along the disk circumference. We use terahertz quantum cascade structures(4,5) and demonstrate a 50-fold increase in the optical power compared to devices without gratings, while at the same time engineering the lasing spectrum according to the grating rotational symmetry. This concept will allow the fabrication of compact arrays of single-mode terahertz sources with regular beam profiles and high output power.

In this paper, the spectral behavior of two terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) operating both pulsed and cw is characterized using a heterodyne technique. Both lasers emitting around 2.5 THz are combined onto a whisker contact Schottky diode mixer mounted in a corner cube reflector. The resulting difference frequency beatnote is recorded in both the time and frequency domain. From the frequency domain data, we measure the effective laser linewidth and the tuning rates as a function of both temperature and injection current and show that the current tuning behavior cannot be explained by temperature tuning mechanisms alone. From the time domain data, we characterize the intrapulse frequency tuning behavior, which limits the effective linewidth to approximately 5 MHz. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

We report two different terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers based on bound-to-continuum transitions emitting at 2.8 and 3.8 THz. Novel design approaches have been explored with the purpose of optimizing the electron injection process. Both devices show large current dynamic ranges with output powers of several tens of mW, offering ample scope for future improvements. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dual-wavelength intersubband emission at 8 and 10 mu m is reported in a three-level quantum-well system in which one electronic state is at the same time the lower level of the first optical transition and the upper level of the second. Results are presented for two different AlInAs/GaInAs quantum cascade structures featuring single-well active regions with two vertical transitions or double-well active regions with one diagonal and one vertical transition. Laser action has been achieved between the excited states of the single-well device and on the diagonal transition of the double-well structure. In the latter case the wavelength can be electric-field tuned by means of the stark effect also above threshold. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.

Terahertz quantum cascade lasers have been investigated with respect to their performance as a local oscillator in a heterodyne receiver. The beam profile has been measured and transformed in to a close to Gaussian profile resulting in a good matching between the field patterns of the quantum cascade laser and the antenna of a superconducting hot electron bolometric mixer. Noise temperature measurements with the hot electron bolometer and a 2.5 THz quantum cascade laser yielded the same result as with a gas laser as local oscillator. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.

We report continuous-wave (CW) operation of a 4.4-THz quantum-cascade laser grown in the GaAs-AlGaAs materials system by molecular beam epitaxy. The device operates at 4 K with a threshold current of 160 mA, and an output power of /spl sim/25 /spl mu/W. In pulsed mode, the maximum operating temperature is 52 K, with a threshold current of 108 mA at 4 K. CW lasing was achieved by using a small cavity ridge area (60/spl times/600 /spl mu/m), and by coating one of the laser facets. These two features allowed for a substantial decrease of the threshold current and therefore reduced detrimental heating effects. The role played by the lateral resistance of the 800-nm GaAs layer underneath the active region was also investigated. Experimental data is presented showing that the temperature of the active region, which eventually hinders CW lasing, can be substantially influenced by the value of this lateral resistance.

A quantum-cascade laser using a double-quantum-well graded superlattice as the active region is presented. Each SL period consists of two strongly coupled quantum wells resulting in the splitting of the lowest miniband into two minibands. These two minibands can be designed to be flat and to contain delocalized, spatially symmetric wavefunctions under an applied electric field which in turn leads to a high optical dipole for the interminiband transition. In addition, the new design allows independent control of the energy levels of the lowest two minibands, their width and the splitting separating them, enhancing design flexibility. Using a cascade design of 55 pairs of alternated active regions and injectors, pulsed laser action is achieved at /spl lambda/=11.6 /spl mu/m. Peak output powers reach 120 mW at 7 K and approximately 12 mW at the maximum operating temperature of 195 K.

An optimized design of quantum cascade lasers with electric field free undoped superlattice active regions is presented. In these structures the superlattice is engineered so that: (1) the first two extended states of the upper miniband are separated by an optical phonon to avoid phonon bottleneck effects and concentrate the injected electron density in the lower state and (2) the oscillator strength of the laser transition is maximized. The injectors' doping profile is also optimized by concentrating the doping in a single quantum well to reduce the electron density in the active material. These design changes result in major improvements of the pulse/continuous-wave performance such as a weak temperature dependence of threshold (T/sub 0/=167 K), high peak powers (100-200 mW at 300 K) and higher CW operating temperatures for devices emitting around at /spl lambda//spl sim/8.5 /spl mu/m.

The periodic scattering of the surface plasmon modes employed in the waveguide of terahertz quantum cascade lasers is shown to be an efficient method to control the properties of the laser emission. The scatterers are realized as thin slits in the metal and top contact layer carrying the surface plasmon. This technique provides larger coupling strengths than previously reported and can be used in various device implementations. Here the method is applied to realize a distributed feedback resonator without back-facet reflection, to achieve vertical emission of the radiation with second-order gratings, and to increase the facet reflectivity by fabricating passive distributed Bragg reflectors. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

High-power continuous-wave (CW) laser action is reported for a GaInAs-AlInAs quantum cascade structure operating in the mid-infrared (/spl lambda//spl sime/5 /spl mu/m). Gain optimization and reduced heating effects have been achieved by employing a modulation-doped funnel injector with a three-well vertical-transition active region and by adopting InP as the waveguide cladding material to improve thermal dissipation and lateral conductance. A CW optical power as high as 0.7 W per facet has been obtained at 20 K with a slope efficiency of 582 mW/A, which corresponds to a value of the differential quantum efficiency /spl eta//sub d/=4.78 much larger than unity, proving that each electron injected above threshold contributes to the optical field a number of photons equal to the number of periods in the structure. The lasers have been operated CW up to 110 K and more than 200 mW per facet have still been measured at liquid nitrogen temperature. The high overall performance of the lasers is also attested by the large "wall plug" efficiency, which, for the best device, has been computed to be more than 8.5% at 20 K. The spectral analysis has shown finally that the emission is single-mode for some devices up to more than 300 mW at low temperature.

Quasi-periodic surface plasmon gratings based on the Fibonacci sequence are studied as distributed feedback resonators for terahertz quantum cascade lasers. The simulations indicate a quality factor comparable with standard DFB resonators. The fabricated devices show grating-dependent emission, but suppression of higher transverse waveguide modes will be necessary to unambiguously identify the fundamental resonance frequencies of the grating. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We propose a mechanism for achieving optical bistability in semiconductor heterostructures. In contrast to the well-known refractive shift of the Fabry-Perot mode in macroscopic resonators, we consider the bleaching of the exciton Rabi splitting in strong-coupling microcavities and prove that this nonlinear process leads to an optically bistable behavior. Through a model based on the transfer-matrix formalism, we predict the dependence of this effect on specific material parameters and on the nature of the cavity. Numerical calculations are carried out for quantum well embedded cavities and the possibility of room-temperature bistable operation is also discussed. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

We demonstrate that azimuthally polarized surface emitting Terahertz quantum cascade lasers fabricated in a micro-ring resonator geometry can be coupled to cylindrical hollow aluminum waveguides reaching efficiencies as high approximate to 98%, when a collimating lens is used. By placing the waveguide in close contact with the QCL in a simple back-to-back geometry, the laser mode can be perfectly matched with the low loss TE(01) waveguide mode showing attenuation losses as low as approximate to 2.3-2.7 dB/m at 3.2 THz. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

The terahertz region (1-10 THz) of the electromagnetic spectrum offers ample opportunities in spectroscopy, free space communications, remote sensing and medical imaging. Yet, the use of THz radiation in all these fields has been hampered by the lack of appropriate, convenient sources. We here report on unipolar semiconductor injection lasers that emit at THz frequencies (4.3 THz, λ ~ 69μm and 3.5 THz, λ ~ 85μm) and possess the potential for device-like implementation. They are based on the quantum cascade scheme employing interminiband transitions in the technologically mature AlGaAs/GaAs material system and feature a novel kind of waveguide loosely relying on the surface plasmon concpt. Continuous-wave laser emission is achieved with low thresholds of a few hundred A/cm2 up to 45 K heat sink temperature and maximum output powers of more than 4mW. Under pulsed excitation, peak output powers of 4.5mW at low temperatures and still 1 mW at 65 K are measured. The amximum operating temperature is 67 K.

Recent advances and new directions in quantum cascade (QC) lasers are discussed. Invented in 1994 following many years of research on band-structure engineered semiconductors and devices grown by molecular beam epitaxy, this fundamentally new laser has rapidly advanced to a leading position among midinfrared semiconductor lasers in terms of wavelength agility as well as power and temperature performance. Because of the cascaded structure, QC lasers have a slope efficiency proportional to the number of stages. Devices with 100 stages having a record peak power of 0.6 W at room temperature are reported. QC lasers in the AlInAs-GaInAs lattice matched to InP material system can now be designed to emit in the whole midinfrared range from 4 to 20 /spl mu/m by appropriately choosing the thickness of the quantum wells in the active region. Using strained AlInAs-GaInAs, wavelengths as short as 3.4 /spl mu/m have been produced. New results on QC lasers emitting at 19 /spl mu/m, the longest ever realized in a III-V semiconductor laser, are reported. These devices use innovative plasmon waveguides to greatly enhance the mode confinement factor, thereby reducing the thickness of the epitaxial material. By use of a distributed feedback (DFB) geometry, QC lasers show single-mode emission with a 30-dB side-mode suppression ratio. Broad continuous single-mode tuning by either temperature or current has been demonstrated in these DFB QC lasers at wavelengths in two atmospheric windows (3-5 and 8-13 /spl mu/m), with continuous-wave linewidths

The integration of an optically pumped switch in a quantum cascade laser device yields a semiconductor terahertz amplifier that promises to extend the capabilities of time-domain spectroscopy.