Frequency comb operation of long-cavity terahertz quantum-cascade lasers

M. Wienold; B. Röben; L. Schrottke; H. T. Grahn

doi:10.1117/12.2208128

10 March 2016 Frequency comb operation of long-cavity terahertz quantum-cascade lasers

M. Wienold, B. Röben, L. Schrottke, H. T. Grahn

Proceedings Volume 9767, Novel In-Plane Semiconductor Lasers XV; 97671A (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2208128
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2016, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

We investigated the multi-mode operation of long-cavity terahertz quantum-cascade lasers (l ≥ 7.5 mm). For QCLs based on an active region design with longitudinal optical (LO) phonon transitions, emission with 30–40 strong modes in a range of more than 270 GHz (9 cm^-1) is observed. For certain operating conditions, we found evidence for stable frequency comb operation, which has been further proven by a self-mixing technique. In general, the multimode dynamics is characterized by a complex alternation of broad- and narrow-beat note regimes for these devices. In contrast, only a single narrow-beat note regime was observed for a different long-cavity device based on a bound-to-continuum active region, for which the emission comb spans only 33 GHz (1.1 cm^-1). We further report a technique based on a tunable bandpass filter to confirm the presence of weak emission modes in the periphery of THz combs, which allowed for the unambiguous detection of modes within a dynamic range of 35 dB. We found that the 35-dB width of the comb can exceed the 20-dB width by a factor of two.

Citation Download Citation

M. Wienold, B. Röben, L. Schrottke, and H. T. Grahn "Frequency comb operation of long-cavity terahertz quantum-cascade lasers", Proc. SPIE 9767, Novel In-Plane Semiconductor Lasers XV, 97671A (10 March 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2208128

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