Room temperature negative differential resistance in terahertz quantum cascade laser structures

Albo, Asaf; Hu, Qing; Reno, John L.

doi:10.1063/1.4961617

Room temperature negative differential resistance in terahertz quantum cascade laser structures

Journal Article · Wed Aug 24 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4961617· OSTI ID:1333541

^[1]; Hu, Qing ^[1]; Reno, John L. ^[2]

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The mechanisms that limit the temperature performance of GaAs/Al_0.15GaAs-based terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz-QCLs) have been identified as thermally activated LO-phonon scattering and leakage of charge carriers into the continuum. Consequently, the combination of highly diagonal optical transition and higher barriers should significantly reduce the adverse effects of both mechanisms and lead to improved temperature performance. Here, we study the temperature performance of highly diagonal THz-QCLs with high barriers. Our analysis uncovers an additional leakage channel which is the thermal excitation of carriers into bounded higher energy levels, rather than the escape into the continuum. Based on this understanding, we have designed a structure with an increased intersubband spacing between the upper lasing level and excited states in a highly diagonal THz-QCL, which exhibits negative differential resistance even at room temperature. Furthermore, this result is a strong evidence for the effective suppression of the aforementioned leakage channel.

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000

OSTI ID:: 1333541

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 22590517

Report Number(s):: SAND--2016-6377J; 643803

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 109; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited By (3)

Tradeoffs between oscillator strength and lifetime in terahertz quantum cascade lasers Chan, Chun Wang I.; Albo, Asaf; Hu, Qing Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 109, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4967244	journal	November 2016
Split-well direct-phonon terahertz quantum cascade lasers Albo, Asaf; Flores, Yuri V.; Hu, Qing Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 114, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5089854	journal	May 2019
Extraction-controlled terahertz frequency quantum cascade lasers with a diagonal LO-phonon extraction and injection stage Han, Y. J.; Li, L. H.; Grier, A. Optics Express, Vol. 24, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.24.028583	journal	January 2016

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