Terahertz quantum cascade VECSEL with watt-level output power

Curwen, Christopher A.; Reno, John L.; Williams, Benjamin S.

doi:10.1063/1.5033910

Terahertz quantum cascade VECSEL with watt-level output power

Journal Article · Mon Jul 02 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5033910· OSTI ID:1459988

Curwen, Christopher A. ^[1]; Reno, John L. ^[2]; ^[1]

Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Here, we report a terahertz quantum-cascade vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (QC-VECSEL) whose output power is scaled up to watt-level by using an amplifying metasurface designed for increased power density. The metasurface is composed of a subwavelength array of metal-metal waveguide antenna-coupled sub-cavities loaded with a terahertz quantum-cascade gain material. Unlike previously demonstrated THz QC-VECSELs, the sub-cavities operate on their third-order lateral modal resonance (TM₀₃), instead of their first-order (TM₀₁) resonance. This results in a metasurface with a higher spatial density of the gain material, leading to an increased output power per metasurface area. In pulsed mode operation, peak THz output powers up to 830 mW at 77 K and 1.35 W at 6 K are observed, while a single-mode spectrum and a low divergence beam pattern are maintained. In addition, piezoelectric control of the cavity length allows approximately 50 GHz of continuous, single-mode tuning without a significant effect on output power or beam quality.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

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:: 1459988

Report Number(s):: SAND2018-4641J; 662743

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 113; ISSN 0003-6951

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

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Broadband continuous single-mode tuning of a short-cavity quantum-cascade VECSEL Curwen, Christopher A.; Reno, John L.; Williams, Benjamin S. Nature Photonics, Vol. 13, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0518-z	journal	September 2019
Terahertz quantum-cascade lasers for high-resolution spectroscopy of sharp absorption lines Röben, B.; Lü, X.; Biermann, K. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 125, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5079701	journal	April 2019
High-resolution terahertz spectroscopy with quantum-cascade lasers Hübers, H. -W.; Richter, H.; Wienold, M. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 125, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5084105	journal	April 2019
High-intensity and low-divergence THz laser with 1D autofocusing symmetric Airy beams Chen, Ji; Gao, Liang; Jin, Yuan Optics Express, Vol. 27, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.27.022877	journal	January 2019

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