The Three-Decade Journey of Quantum Cascade Lasers
A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732). This special issue belongs to the section "Quantum Photonics and Technologies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2024 | Viewed by 1299
Special Issue Editors
Interests: optoelectronics; design; modeling; growth; characterization (optical, electrical, and structural); fabrication; packaging, and measurements of quantum devices; semiconductor lasers; photodetectors; focal plane arrays; QWIP, QDWIP, from deep UV (200 nm), up to THZ (300 microns)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: molecular beam epitaxy, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition; nonequilibrium green’s function; semiconductor lasers; device fabrications; terahertz
Interests: quantum photonic devices; nonlinear optics; terahertz lasers; frequency combs; electroabsorption-modulated lasers; single photon sources
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: terahertz; quantum cascade lasers; inter-subband transition; nitride semiconductors lasers; molecular-beam epitaxy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to join us in celebrating the remarkable progress made over nearly 30 years in the field of Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs), specifically covering the mid- and far-infrared (mid-IR; terahertz) spectra. The widespread implementation of QCLs in real-world applications, such as environmental sensing, process control, and combustion diagnostics, underscores their significant impact.
This Special Issue aims to present the milestones achieved and the latest hot topics related to QCL research. Given the primary focus of Photonics on devices, it is fitting to compile these advancements here.
In this Special Issue, original research articles, reviews, and comments are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following topics: the physics of the intersubband transition, quantum transport simulations in QCLs, state-of-the-art mid-IR and THz QCL experiments, frequency noise and stabilization of QCLs, surface-emitting photonics configurations, frequency combs, multifrequency generation techniques for THz QCLs, and an extensive illustration of the various applications of QCLs.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Manijeh Razeghi
Dr. Li Wang
Dr. Quanyong Lu
Prof. Dr. Hideki Hirayama
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- intersubband transition
- quantum transport models
- quantum cascade lasers
- mid-infrared/terahertz
- nonlinearities
- frequency comb
- spectroscopy
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: MOCVD Grown InGaAs/InAlAs Quantum Cascade Lasers Emitting at 7.7μm
Authors: Maciej Bugajski; Andrzej Kolek; Grzegorz Hałdaś; Włodzimierz Strupiński; Iwona Pasternak; Walery Kołkowski; Kamil Pierściński
Affiliation: Łukasiewicz Institute of Microelectronics and Photonics, al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warszawa, Poland
Abstract: In this paper, we report the growth of high-quality In0.59Ga0.41As/In0.37Al0.63As strain-balanced quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) in the low-pressure MOCVD production type multi-wafer planetary reactor. The lasers were designed for emission at 7.7μm. The active region was based on diagonal two-phonon resonance design with 40 cascade stages. For epitaxial process control, the high resolution X-ray diffraction (HR XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the structural quality of the QCL samples. The grown structures were processed into mesa Fabry-Perot lasers using dry etching RIE ICP processing technology. The basic electro-optical characterization of the lasers is provided. We also present results of Green’s function modeling of QCLs and demonstrate the capability of non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) approach for sophisticated, but still computationally effective simulation of laser’s characteristics.
Title: SiN membrane-mediated IR amplitude modulation to THz QCL self-mixing signal conversion
Authors: Paolo Vezio1, Andrea Ottomaniello2, Leonardo Vicarelli3, Paul Dean4, Alessandro Pitanti3, Virgilio Mattoli2 and Alessandro Tredicucci5.
Affiliation: 1Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia e LENS, Università di Firenze, INFN - Sezione di Firenze - via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI); 2Center for Materials Interfaces, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via R. Piaggio, 34, 56025 Pontedera, PI, Italy; 3Dipartimento di Fisica E. Fermi, Università di Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy; 4 School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS29JT, UK; 5Dipartimento di Fisica E. Fermi and Center for Instrument Sharing of the University of Pisa (CISUP), Università di Pisa, Largo Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
Abstract: The intrinsic stability to optical feedback of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) makes them ideally suitable for laser feedback interferometry (LFI), or self-mixing (SM). At terahertz (THz) frequencies, QCL LFI has already been demonstrated as an effective technique to enable high-speed high-sensitivity detection performance for metrology and imaging applications. Here, we introduce a LFI scheme consisting of a THz QCLs coupled to an IR laser via a gold coated silicon nitride membrane as the vibrating mirror of the external QCL laser cavity. The THz QCL SM signal is detected upon IR illumination of the mechanical resonator in both static and (piezo-electrically) actuated state. This allows the measurement of the dependence of membrane frequency and displacement on the impinging IR power. The experimental results are found in agreement with both finite-element simulations of the mechanical resonator dynamics under optical excitation and the corresponding solutions of the Lang-Kobayashi equations of the laser subject to the time-varying optical feedback. Signal conversion from the IR power modulation into the THz SM signal is finally demonstrated. This study reveals the possibility to provide double information encoding from IR to THz frequencies exploiting a mechanical resonator-coupled QCL feedback interferometer.
