Near-Full Current Dynamic Range THz Quantum Cascade Laser Frequency Comb
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Updated: Aug 8, 2025
Characterizing Far-infrared Laser Emissions and the Measurement of Their Frequencies
Published on: December 18, 2015
Yu Ma1,2, Weijiang Li1,2, Yuanyuan Li1,2
1Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials Science, Beijing Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Semiconductor Materials and Devices, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 912, Beijing 100083, China.
Abstract:
The present study proposes a terahertz quantum cascade laser frequency comb (THz QCL FC) with a semi-insulated surface plasma waveguide characterized by a low threshold current density, high power and a wide current dynamic range. The gain dispersion value and the nonlinear susceptibility were optimized based on the combination of a hybrid bound-to-continuum active region with a semi-insulated surface plasmon waveguide. Without any extra dispersion compensator, stable frequency comb operation within a current dynamic range of more than 97% of the total was revealed by the intermode beat note map. Additionally, a total comb spectral emission of about 300 GHz centered around 4.6 THz was achieved for a 3 mm long and 150 µm wide device. At 10 K, a maximum output power of 22 mW was obtained with an ultra-low threshold current density of 64.4 A·cm-2.
