Dielectric deposition for tuning the frequency of THz quantum cascade lasers

Conference paper (2017)

Authors

B. Mirzaei Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, QN/Gao Lab
Darren J. Hayton SRON–Netherlands Institute for Space Research
David Thoen Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft
J. R. Gao Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, SRON–Netherlands Institute for Space Research, QN/Gao Lab
T. Y. Kao Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Q. Hu Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John L. Reno Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico
Research Group
QN/Gao Lab
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Published Date

2017

Language

English

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Research Group

QN/Gao Lab

Abstract

We report an extensive study of the effect of an additional dielectric layer on the frequency of terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs). QCLs with third-order distributed feedback structure at frequencies of 3.5 and 4.7 THz are used in our experiment. The dielectric layer applied is either Silicon-dioxide (SiO2) or Polymethylmethacrylaat (PMMA). We find that both dielectric layers can down shift the lasing frequency up to 6GHz on a 3.5THz QCL, and 13GHz for a 4.7THz QCL. Full 3D FEM simulations suggest that the effect is dominated by the effective thickness of the dielectric on the vertical walls of the laser structure, and also confirm that for a given dielectric layer the effect is stronger in the 4.7THz QCL due to its larger out-distribution of electric-magnetic field. The knowledge provides guideline to shift the frequency of an existing QCL used as a local oscillator in practical applications.

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