Metasurface external cavity laser

Journal Article · Mon Nov 30 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936887· OSTI ID:22486144

Xu, Luyao; Curwen, Christopher A.; Williams, Benjamin S. ^[1]; Hon, Philip W. C.; Itoh, Tatsuo ^[1]; Chen, Qi-Sheng ^[2]

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1. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)
2. Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, California 90278 (United States)

A vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting-laser is demonstrated in the terahertz range, which is based upon an amplifying metasurface reflector composed of a sub-wavelength array of antenna-coupled quantum-cascade sub-cavities. Lasing is possible when the metasurface reflector is placed into a low-loss external cavity such that the external cavity—not the sub-cavities—determines the beam properties. A near-Gaussian beam of 4.3° × 5.1° divergence is observed and an output power level >5 mW is achieved. The polarized response of the metasurface allows the use of a wire-grid polarizer as an output coupler that is continuously tunable.

• OSTI ID: 22486144
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 22; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANTENNAS
BEAMS
GRIDS
LASERS
SURFACES
WAVELENGTHS