Terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are compact sources of radiation in the 1–5 THz range with significant
potential for applications in sensing and imaging. Laser feedback interferometry (LFI) with THz QCLs is a technique
utilizing the sensitivity of the QCL to the radiation reflected back into the laser cavity from an external target. We will
discuss modelling techniques and explore the applications of LFI in biological tissue imaging and will show that the
confocal nature of the QCL in LFI systems, with their innate capacity for depth sectioning, makes them suitable for skin
diagnostics with the well-known advantages of more conventional confocal microscopes. A demonstration of
discrimination of neoplasia from healthy tissue using a THz, LFI-based system in the context of melanoma is presented
using a transgenic mouse model.
Electron transport through an InGaAs resonant tunneling structure with Rashba spin-orbit interaction and magnetic field parallel to the growth direction was studied theoretically. A nonequilibrium Green's function model was used, wherein interface roughness and longitudinal optical phonon scattering are treated in the self-consistent first Born approximation. The model predicts the main features of the two-dimensional magnetopolaron density of states and the secondary peaks in the I-V curve due to both resonant elastic and inelastic scattering. The I-V curves were studied at magnetic fields around the magnetophonon resonance and the elastic and inelastic contributions identified. At these fields (5 to 7 T), the current spin polarization was found to be dominated by the Zeeman effect and significant even in the presence of scattering events.
Near- and mid-infrared fibre lasers find many applications in areas such as remote and chemical sensing, lidar and
medicine, and tellurite fibres offer advantages over other common fibre glasses such a lower phonon energy and higher
rare-earth ion solubility than silicate glasses, and greater chemical and environmental stability than fluoride glasses. Rate
equation modelling is a very useful tool for the characterisation and performance prediction of new rare earth transitions
in these novel fibre materials. We present the numerical rate equation modelling results for a ~2 μm Tm3+-doped tellurite
fibre laser when pumped with a 1.6 μm Er3+/Yb3+-doped double-clad silica fibre laser. A maximum slope efficiency of
76% with respect to launched pump power was achieved in the experimental fibre laser set up with a 32 cm long fibre.
The high slope efficiency is very close to the Stokes efficiency limit of ~82% which is due to the in-band pumping
scheme employed and the lack of pump excited state absorption. The two-level rate equations involving absorption and
emission between the Tm3+: 3H6 and 3F4 levels have been solved iteratively using a fourth-order Runge-Kutta algorithm
and the results compared with the experimental results. For the 32 cm fibre with output coupler reflectivities of 12%,
50%, 70% and 90%, the respective theoretical slope efficiencies of 73%, 64%, 53% and 29% are in very good agreement
with the experimentally measured values of 76%, 60%, 48% and 33%.
We present a theoretical thermal analysis of mid-infrared quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) using a two-dimensional anisotropic heat diffusion model. Several InP-based devices are simulated over a range of operating conditions in order to extract temperature-dependent thermal resistances. These thermal resistances are used to compare the effectiveness of various heat management techniques. Finally, heat flow analysis is performed in order to understand the internal thermal dynamics of these devices.
This paper compares and contrasts different theoretical approaches based on incoherent electron scattering transport
with experimental measurements of optoelectronic devices formed from semiconductor heterostructures.
The Monte Carlo method which makes no a priori assumptions about the carrier distribution in momentum or
phase space is compared with less computationally demanding energy-balance rate equation models which assume
thermalised carrier distributions. It is shown that the two approaches produce qualitatively similar results
for hole transport in p-type Si1-xGex/Si superlattices designed for terahertz emission. The good agreement of
the predictions of rate equation calculations with experimental measurements of mid- and far-infrared quantum
cascade lasers, quantum well infrared photodetectors and quantum dot infrared photodetectors substantiate the
assumption of incoherent scattering dominating the transport in these quantum well based devices. However, the
paper goes on to consider the possibility of coherent transport through the density matrix method and suggests
an experiment that could allow coherent and incoherent transport to be distinguished from each other.
We present comprehensive experimental study of p-type (Be) and n-type (Si) &dgr;-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum
wells (QWs) intended to be used as selective sensors/emitters in terahertz (THz) range. The structures of various designs
and doping levels were studied via different optical-photoreflectance-, surface photovoltage- and differential surface
photovoltage. spectroscopies and a THz photocurrent technique using as THz emission source either free electron- or
optically-pumped molecular THz laser within 4.300 K range of temperatures. Analysis of Franz-Keldysh oscillations in
photoreflectance spectra and line shapes of the differential surface photovoltage spectra enabled to estimate built-in
electric fields and excitonic parameters for a large number of QW subbands. The experimental interband transition
energies were compared with calculations performed within the envelope function approximation taking into account
non-parabolicity of the energy bands. The dominant exciton line broadening mechanisms were revealed, and the
interface roughness was evaluated from analysis of the dependence of exciton linewidth broadening on the QW width.
Terahertz spectroscopic measurements in p-type structures have indicated strong absorption around 55 &mgr;m wavelength
due to intraband absorption of the bound holes, while increase in photocurrent in the structures below 80 &mgr;m wavelength
is caused by photothermal ionization of Be acceptors.
We have studied interband optical transitions, electronic structure and structural quality of p-type (Be) and n-type (Si) &dgr;-
doped GaAs/AlAs MQWs designed for selective THz sensing applying differential surface photovoltage (DSPV)
spectroscopy. Sharp derivative-like features associated with excitonic optical transitions in GaAs/AlAs MQWs have
been observed in the spectra at 300 K and 90 K temperature. The energies and line broadening parameters for a large
number of QW related excitonic transitions were determined from the line-shape analysis of the DSPV spectra. The
spectroscopic data of transition energies were found to be in a good agreement with calculations within the envelope
function approximation which took into account the nonparabolicity of energy bands. Analysis of the dependence of the
exciton linewidth broadening on the quantum subband number allowed evaluate line-broadening mechanisms and
interface roughness in the MQW structures. It was determined that doping with Si broadens more effectively the optical
spectra lines in comparison with the structures of the same design doped with Be.
We present a study of phonon sidebands in the photoluminescence spectra of Be acceptor-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple
quantum wells at liquid nitrogen temperature. Up to two phonon satellites with a separation close to the GaAs
longitudinal optical phonon energy are observed in the sideband of the photoluminescence. A theoretical analysis of the
satellite-related photoluminescence lineshapes and their energetic position and impurity induced spectra is presented.
The results show that the phonon satellites can be attributed to free-electron-Be acceptor transitions involving
longitudinal optical phonon of GaAs - the host material of the studied quantum wells.
In this article we present results of an investigation the PL properties of highly Si &dgr;-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple QWs at
liquid nitrogen and room temperatures. We discuss possible mechanisms for carrier recombination in the QW structures
placing particular emphasis on the origin of the low energy tail in the PL spectra, and its features.
We measured the photoreflectance (PR) and wavelength-modulated differential surface photovoltage (DSPV) spectra of
δ-doped GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells (MQW) with different well widths and doping levels. We demonstrated that
PR and DSPV are powerful contactless tools for the characterization of MQW structures. We observed Franz-Keldysh
oscillations in the PR spectra, which enabled us to determine the built-in electric fields in the GaAs/AlAs MQW
structures. As it turned out, in the GaAs buffedcap layers the field strength is in the range of 18-20 kV/cm. It was found
that a buried interface rather than the structure surface very probably governs the SPV effect. Sharp features associated
with excitonic optical transitions were revealed in both, PR and DSPV spectra. From the line shape analysis of the
modulation spectra, we estimated optical transition energies and broadening parameters. The energy levels and interband
transition energies calculated by the transfer matrix method are in good agreement with the experimental values. The
influence of the doping on the broadening of exciton resonances was observed and investigated.
There is strong interest in the development of sources that emit radiation in the far infrared (1-10 THz) frequency range for applications which include early detection of skin cancer, dental imaging, telecommunications, security scanning, gas sensing, astronomy, molecular spectroscopy, and the possible detection of biological weapons. While a number of THz sources are available, there are at present no compact, efficient, cheap and practical high-power solid-state sources such as light emitting diodes or lasers. Silicon is an excellent candidate for such a THz source since the lack of polar optical phonon scattering makes it an inherently low loss material at these frequencies. Furthermore, since over 97% of all microelectronics is presently silicon based, the realisation of a silicon based emitter/laser could potentially allow integration with conventional silicon-based microelectronics. In this paper THz electroluminescence from a Si/SiGe quantum cascade structure operating significantly above liquid helium temperatures is demonstrated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was performed using step scan spectrometer with a liquid helium cooled Si-bolometer for detection. Spectra are presented demonstrating intersubband electroluminescence at a number of different frequencies. These spectral features agree very well with the theoretically calculated intersubband transitions predicted for the structure.
This letter focuses on the first-principles model of the photocurrent in quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs). The model explores the absorption coefficient measured experimentally. Then we move to show how the responsivity and quantum efficiency vary with α. The work in this paper shows that the device response indeed increases as QWIPs are designed and fabricated to detect longer wavelengths despite the fall in device performance as a result of the growing effect of the dark (noise) current.
Terahertz (far-infrared) intersubband electroluminescence is reported in p-type Si/SiGe quantum wells and quantum cascade structures. Surface-normal emission (without the aid of a surface grating) from light hole - heavy hole intersubband transitions has been observed for the first time in a quantum cascade device. Edge-emission measurements have also been performed, which show emission from both heavy hole - heavy hole and light hole - heavy hole transitions, and have allowed demonstration of the polarisation dependence of the emitted power, according to the selection rules for the intersubband interactions. The electroluminescence is visible up to temperatures of ~150K, in the multiple quantum well structures, and >=77K in the quantum cascade structure.
Electron-longitudinal optic phonon and electron-electron intersubband scattering rates are calculated for a variety of quantum well systems. It is demonstrated that the internal quantum efficiency of a Terahertz radiative intersubband transition can be greater than in the mid-IR at 4K, however by room temperature has fallen to around 20 percent. A study of the internal quantum efficiency of a Terahertz energy intersubband transition in double and single quantum wells, has shown that the vertical intrawell transition is more efficient than the diagonal interwell transition.
Normal dopant species in III-V semiconductors from shallow donors or acceptors whose atomic-like transitions have energies of the order of 3-20meV which corresponds to the Terahertz region of the spectrum. It has been suggested that these levels could be utilized in an impurity based THz laser system developing a solid-state THz source from such a technology will require engineering of the energy levels to favor radiative recombination. In this paper we report initial experiments to measure the 1s-2p scattering rate for holes bound to Beryllium acceptors in a bulk GaAs epilayer using the European free electron laser facility FELIX. Two absorption lines were studied the so-called D and C lines at 167 cm-1 corresponding to 1s-2p transitions of the Beryllium acceptors. At high pump powers these lines were saturated and it was possible to perform Pump-probe measurements to observe the recovery of the absorption as a function of time. The temperature dependence of the decays was also measured. The D and C transitions were found to decay with lifetimes of 360ps and 440ps respectively. This represents the firs direct measurement of these transition lifetimes which are much longer than those reported for intersubband scattering. The result are highly encouraging and support the concept of an impurity based Terahertz device for room temperature operation.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.