The terahertz gap, lying roughly between and in the electromagnetic spectrum, exists because the frequencies generated by semiconductor devices based on transistors and lasers do not overlap. Generation of coherent terahertz radiation has traditionally involved either extending electronic techniques to higher frequencies or extending photonic sources to longer wavelengths. In both cases, the efficiency drops rapidly as the frequency approaches the terahertz region. We recently fabricated quantum cascade lasers, in which a high-confinement metal-metal waveguide was employed and fabricated using metallic bonding technique. The devices demonstrated lasing operation at a wavelength of around (or about in frequency). In this article, we first present the fabrication and electrical and optical characterizations of the terahertz quantum cascade lasers. We then characterized a set of terahertz quantum cascade lasers with otherwise identical device parameters but the doping concentration. The -doping density for each period was varied from to . We observed that both the lasing threshold and the free carrier absorption caused the waveguide loss increase monotonically. Interestingly, however, the observed maximum lasing temperature displayed an optimum at a doping concentration of .
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Research Article|
May 04 2006
Terahertz quantum cascade lasers: Fabrication, characterization, and doping effect
D. Ban;
D. Ban
a)
Institute for Microstructural Sciences
, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada
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M. Wächter;
M. Wächter
Institute for Microstructural Sciences
, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada
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H. C. Liu;
H. C. Liu
Institute for Microstructural Sciences
, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada
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Z. R. Wasilewski;
Z. R. Wasilewski
Institute for Microstructural Sciences
, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada
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M. Buchanan;
M. Buchanan
Institute for Microstructural Sciences
, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada
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G. C. Aers
G. C. Aers
Institute for Microstructural Sciences
, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada
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a)
Present address: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada; electronic mail: dban@uwaterloo.ca
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 24, 778–782 (2006)
Article history
Received:
June 09 2005
Accepted:
January 17 2006
Citation
D. Ban, M. Wächter, H. C. Liu, Z. R. Wasilewski, M. Buchanan, G. C. Aers; Terahertz quantum cascade lasers: Fabrication, characterization, and doping effect. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 May 2006; 24 (3): 778–782. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.2174020
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