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We present a detailed analysis of GaAs/AlGaAs terahertz quantum cascade laser in the presence of an intense external magnetic field. One of the objectives in further development of THz quantum cascade laser is the realization of structures operating at higher temperatures. This is difficult to obtain as the operating photon emission energy is smaller than the longitudinal-optical phonon energy in the semiconductor material. With increased temperature, electrons in the upper radiative state gain sufficient in-plane energy to emit an longitudinal-optical phonon, which represents a non-radiative scattering and reduces the optical gain. By applying strong magnetic field, two-dimensional continuous energy subbands become split into series of discrete Landau levels, and at particular values of B it is possible to quench these non-radiative channels. Numerical simulations are performed on two-well design quantum cascade laser operating at 4.6 THz, implemented in GaAs/Al0:15Ga0:85As, and the magnetic field is perpendicular to the epitaxial layers. Strong oscillations of carrier lifetimes for the upper state of the laser transition, as a function of magnetic field are observed, which can be attributed to interface roughness scattering and longitudinal-optical phonon scattering between Landau levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a comprehensive rate equations based model for calculating the optical gain in the active region of a quantum cascade laser in magnetic field perpendicular to the structure layers, which takes into account all the relevant scattering channels. The model is applied to gain-optimized quantum cascade laser active region, obtained by a systematic optimization procedure based on the use of genetic algorithm, which we have previously set up for designing novel structures and improving performance of existing ones. It has proven to be very efficient in generating optimal structures which emit radiation at specified wavelengths corresponding to absorption fingerprints of particular harmful pollutants found in the atmosphere. We also illustrate another interesting prospective application of quantum cascade laser-type structures: the design of metamaterials with tunable complex permittivity, based on amplification via intersubband transitions. In this case, the role of the magnetic field is to assist the attainment of sufficient optical gain (population inversion), necessary to effectively manipulate the permittivity and fulfill the conditions for negative refraction (left-handedness). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a method for systematic optimization of quantum cascade laser active region, based on the use of the genetic algorithm. The method aims at obtaining a gain-maximized structure, designed to emit radiation at specified wavelengths suitable for direct absorption by pollutant gasses present in the ambient air. After the initial optimization stage, we introduce a strong external magnetic field to tune the laser output properties and to slightly modify the emission wavelength to match the absorption lines of additional compounds. The magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the epitaxial layers, thus causing two-dimensional continuous energy subbands to split into series of discrete Landau levels. This affects all the relevant relaxation processes in the structure and consequently the lifetime of carriers in the upper laser level. Furthermore, strong effects of band nonparabolicity result in subtle changes of the lasing wavelength at magnetic fields which maximize the gain, thus providing a path for fine-tuning of the output radiation properties. Numerical results are presented for GaAs/Al∞Ga1-∞As based quantum cascade laser structures designed to emit at particular wavelengths in the mid-infrared part of the spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a finite-difference model that is capable of describing the single state spin dynamics in a double-barrier AlGaAs heterostructure. The use of Green's functions enables a description of the double-barrier structure by a finite matrix while the interaction with contacts is described by appropriate self-energies. To account for interface roughness scattering, a self-energy ΣIR(E; k) is derived within the random phase approximation. The dominant part is due to in-plane momentum relaxation while a smaller part describing spin-flip scattering is neglected. The former only decreases the state lifetime while the latter can also affect the spin precession frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]