Two-well injector direct-phonon terahertz quantum cascade lasers

Lander Gower, Nathalie; Levy, Shiran; Piperno, Silvia; Addamane, Sadhvikas J.; Reno, John L.; Albo, Asaf

doi:10.1063/5.0155250

Two-well injector direct-phonon terahertz quantum cascade lasers

Journal Article · Tue Aug 08 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0155250· OSTI ID:2311462

Lander Gower, Nathalie ^[1]; Levy, Shiran ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[1]

Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan (Israel)
Sandia National Laboratory (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies

We present an experimental study on a terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz QCL) design that combines both two-well injector and direct-phonon scattering schemes, i.e., a so-called two-well injector direct-phonon design. As a result of the two-well injector direct-phonon scheme presented here, the lasers benefit from both a direct phonon scattering scheme for the lower laser level depopulation and a setback for the doping profile that reduces the overlap of the doped region with active laser states. Additionally, our design also has efficient isolation of the active laser levels from excited and continuum states as indicated by negative differential resistance behavior all the way up to room temperature. This scheme serves as a good platform for improving the temperature performance of THz QCLs as indicated by the encouraging temperature performance results of the device with a relatively high doping level of 7.56 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻² and T_max ∼ 167 K. With the right optimization of the molecular beam epitaxy growth and interface quality, the injection coupling strength, and the doping density and its profile, the device could potentially reach higher temperatures than the latest records reached for the maximum operating temperature (T_max) of THz QCLs.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

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

Sponsoring Organization:: Israel Ministry of Science and Technology; Israel Science Foundation; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 2311462

Report Number(s):: SAND--2024-01342J

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 123; ISSN 0003-6951

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

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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