Femtosecond measurements of near-infrared pulse induced mid-infrared transmission modulation of quantum cascade lasers

Cai, Hong; Liu, Sheng; Lalanne, Elaine; Guo, Dingkai; Chen, Xing; Choa, Fow-Sen; Wang, Xiaojun

doi:10.1063/1.4880358

Title: Femtosecond measurements of near-infrared pulse induced mid-infrared transmission modulation of quantum cascade lasers

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Abstract

We temporally resolved the ultrafast mid-infrared transmission modulation of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) using a near-infrared pump/mid-infrared probe technique at room temperature. Two different femtosecond wavelength pumps were used with photon energy above and below the quantum well (QW) bandgap. The shorter wavelength pump modulates the mid-infrared probe transmission through interband transition assisted mechanisms, resulting in a high transmission modulation depth and several nanoseconds recovery lifetime. In contrast, pumping with a photon energy below the QW bandgap induces a smaller transmission modulation depth but much faster (several picoseconds) recovery lifetime, attributed to intersubband transition assisted mechanisms. The latter ultrafast modulation (>60 GHz) could provide a potential way to realize fast QCL based free space optical communication.

Authors:

Cai, Hong; Liu, Sheng ^[1]; Lalanne, Elaine ^[2]; Guo, Dingkai; Chen, Xing; Choa, Fow-Sen ^[2]; Wang, Xiaojun ^[3]

Department of Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, Maryland 21250 (United States)
Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research (CASPR), UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250 (United States)
AdTech Optics, Inc., City of Industry, California 91748 (United States)

Publication Date:: Mon May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2014

OSTI Identifier:: 22300164

Resource Type:: Journal Article

Journal Name:: Applied Physics Letters

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 104; Journal Issue: 21; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS; GHZ RANGE; LASER RADIATION; LIFETIME; MODULATION; OPTICAL PUMPING; PHOTONS; QUANTUM WELLS; TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K; TRANSMISSION; WAVELENGTHS

Citation Formats


                    Cai, Hong, Liu, Sheng, Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research, Lalanne, Elaine, Guo, Dingkai, Chen, Xing, Choa, Fow-Sen, Department of CSEE, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250, Wang, Xiaojun, Johnson, Anthony M., E-mail: amj@umbc.edu, Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research, and Department of CSEE, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250. Femtosecond measurements of near-infrared pulse induced mid-infrared transmission modulation of quantum cascade lasers.  United States: N. p., 2014. 
        Web.  doi:10.1063/1.4880358.

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                    Cai, Hong, Liu, Sheng, Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research, Lalanne, Elaine, Guo, Dingkai, Chen, Xing, Choa, Fow-Sen, Department of CSEE, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250, Wang, Xiaojun, Johnson, Anthony M., E-mail: amj@umbc.edu, Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research, & Department of CSEE, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250. Femtosecond measurements of near-infrared pulse induced mid-infrared transmission modulation of quantum cascade lasers.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4880358

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                    Cai, Hong, Liu, Sheng, Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research, Lalanne, Elaine, Guo, Dingkai, Chen, Xing, Choa, Fow-Sen, Department of CSEE, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250, Wang, Xiaojun, Johnson, Anthony M., E-mail: amj@umbc.edu, Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research, and Department of CSEE, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250. 2014.  
        "Femtosecond measurements of near-infrared pulse induced mid-infrared transmission modulation of quantum cascade lasers".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4880358.

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@article{osti_22300164,

  title        = {Femtosecond measurements of near-infrared pulse induced mid-infrared transmission modulation of quantum cascade lasers},

  author       = {Cai, Hong and Liu, Sheng and Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research and Lalanne, Elaine and Guo, Dingkai and Chen, Xing and Choa, Fow-Sen and Department of CSEE, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250 and Wang, Xiaojun and Johnson, Anthony M., E-mail: amj@umbc.edu and Center for Advanced Studied in Photonics Research and Department of CSEE, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250},

  abstractNote = {We temporally resolved the ultrafast mid-infrared transmission modulation of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) using a near-infrared pump/mid-infrared probe technique at room temperature. Two different femtosecond wavelength pumps were used with photon energy above and below the quantum well (QW) bandgap. The shorter wavelength pump modulates the mid-infrared probe transmission through interband transition assisted mechanisms, resulting in a high transmission modulation depth and several nanoseconds recovery lifetime. In contrast, pumping with a photon energy below the QW bandgap induces a smaller transmission modulation depth but much faster (several picoseconds) recovery lifetime, attributed to intersubband transition assisted mechanisms. The latter ultrafast modulation (>60 GHz) could provide a potential way to realize fast QCL based free space optical communication.},

  doi          = {10.1063/1.4880358},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22300164},
  journal      = {Applied Physics Letters},

  issn         = {0003-6951},

  number       = 21,

  volume       = 104,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Mon May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2014},

  month        = {Mon May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2014}

}

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