High performance terahertz metasurface quantum-cascade VECSEL with an intra-cryostat cavity
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
A terahertz quantum-cascade (QC) vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting-laser (VECSEL) is demonstrated with over 5 mW power in continuous-wave and single-mode operation above 77 K, in combination with a near-Gaussian beam pattern with full-width half-max divergence as narrow as ~5° × 5°, with no evidence of thermal lensing. This is realized by creating an intra-cryostat VECSEL cavity to reduce the cavity loss and designing an active focusing metasurface reflector with low power dissipation for efficient heat removal. Compared with a conventional quantumcascade laser based on a metal-metal waveguide, the intra-cryostat QC-VECSEL exhibits significant improvements in both output power level and beam pattern. Also, the intra-cryostat configuration newly allows evaluation of QC-VECSEL operation vs. temperature, showing a maximum pulsed mode operating temperature of 129 K. While the threshold current density in the QC-VECSEL is worse in comparison to a conventional edge-emitting metal-metal waveguide QClaser, the beam quality, slope efficiency, maximum power, and thermal resistance are all significantly improved.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1399509
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2017-6878J; 654903
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 10; ISSN 0003-6951
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Broadband continuous single-mode tuning of a short-cavity quantum-cascade VECSEL
|
journal | September 2019 |
Terahertz quantum cascade VECSEL with watt-level output power
|
journal | July 2018 |
THz Emission by Frequency Down-conversion in Topological Insulator Quantum Dots
|
journal | September 2019 |
Similar Records
Terahertz quantum cascade VECSEL with watt-level output power
Terahertz quantum-cascade patch-antenna VECSEL with low power dissipation