Monte Carlo simulation of resonant phonon THz quantum cascade lasers

We report on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations aimed at the design and optimization of GaAs-based THz quantum cascade lasers. Results are presented for a GaAs/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As quantum cascade laser design based on LO phonon scattering depopulation, which operates at 2.8 THz. The obtained electron distribution functions in the subbands and the photoluminescence spectra are compared to experimental results. Also the dependence of the inversion and current density on the applied field is investigated, and the parasitic channels are identified based on the intersubband lifetimes.     

Terahertz Quantum Cascade Devices: From Intersubband Transition to Microcavity Laser

In this review, we report on the study of terahertz (THz) intersubband (ISB) transitions and on the optical devices based on them. We use time-resolved THz spectroscopy to examine ISB optical transitions in semiconductor quantum wells and quantum cascade lasers (QCLs). From these measurements, we obtain important information on the carrier relaxation, scattering mechanisms, and the gain. The waveguide losses are studied directly on the QCL devices and we show the main loss mechanism in the double-metal waveguides. Finally, we demonstrate THz-QCLs with low-mode volume optical cavity.     

Monte Carlo simulation of terahertz quantum cascade lasers: The influence of the modelling of carrier-carrier scattering

A theoretical investigation of electron-electron scattering in quantum cascade lasers is presented. The devices are studied by means of an ensemble Monte Carlo simulation that includes all relevant scattering mechanisms. The energy levels and wave functions are determined by a self-consistent resolution of the Schrödinger and Poisson equations. The influence of the modelling of carrier-carrier scattering is discussed on the example of a resonant-phonon structure operating at 3.4 THz. To demonstrate the usefulness of such a model for optimization purpose, an alternative design operating at a lower frequency is proposed. Our model predicts that a significant population inversion can be achieved at about 1 THz.     

Effects of interdiffusion-induced strain inGa0.51In0.49P-GaAs intermixed quantum wells

The effects of interdiffusion and strain introduced by interdiffusion in lattice-matched GaInP-GaAs single quantum wells are investigated using an error function distribution to model the compositional profile after interdiffusion. Group-III only and dominant group-III interdiffusion produce a large strain build up at the interface, with compressive strain in the well, and tensile strain in the barrier. In the case of group-III only interdiffusion, an abrupt carrier confinement profile is maintained even after significant interdiffusion, with a double-welled bottom, and a potential buildup in the barrier near the interface. Group-V only and group-V dominant interdiffusion again cause a large strain buildup at the interface, with tensile strain in the well and compressive strain in the barrier. Degeneracy of the heavy-hole and light-hole ground states can be achieved, and the electron-light-hole ground state transition energy can also become the effective bandgap energy of the intermixed structure. The model results are consistent with reported experimental results, and show that the effects of the interdiffusion-induced strain on the carrier confinement profiles can be of interest for various quantum-well device applications in this material system, including intersubband infrared photodetectors, polarization-insensitive electroabsorption modulators, and lasers     

Lasing at 1.28 /spl mu/m of InAs-GaAs quantum dots with AlGaAs cladding layer grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

We report the device characteristics of stacked InAs-GaAs quantum dot (QD) lasers cladded by an Al/sub 0.4/Ga/sub 0.6/As layer grown at low temperature by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. In the growth of quantum dot lasers, an emission wavelength shifts toward a shorter value due to the effect of postgrowth annealing on quantum dots. This blueshift can be suppressed when the annealing temperature is below 570/spl deg/C. We achieved 1.28-/spl mu/m continuous-wave lasing at room temperature of five layers stacked InAs-GaAs quantum dots embedded in an In/sub 0.13/Ga/sub 0.87/As strain-reducing layer whose p-cladding layer was grown at 560/spl deg/C. From the experiments and calculations of the gain spectra of fabricated quantum dot lasers, the observed lasing originates from the first excited state of stacked InAs quantum dots. We also discuss the device characteristics of fabricated quantum dot lasers at various growth temperatures of the p-cladding layer.     

Numerical study of terahertz quantum cascade lasers subjected to near-infrared optical pulse injection

We propose a global simulation scheme for studying the output characteristics of quantum cascade lasers subjected to near-infrared optical pulses with a wide range of injection powers. We treat nonresonant excitations where the photon energy of the injected pulse is far from that of QCLs. To maintain consistency even at large injection powers wherein thermal effects become non-negligible, internal parameters, e.g., electron temperatures, scattering times, gains, and waveguide loss, are treated as functions of space and time and evaluated based on the temperature and carrier distribution in the device. The number of photons in the cavity is converted into output power using the time-dependent reflectivity at the cavity facet. This all-in-one scheme well reproduces light output-to-current characteristics observed in a relevant experiment and is able to relate the induced changes in the output powers with the relevant intersubband gain and cavity loss components over a wide range of time scales after the pulse injection.     

Device performance and wavelength tuning behavior of ultra-short quantum-cascade microlasers with deeply etched Bragg-mirrors

The fabrication and characteristics of edge-emitting quantum-cascade (QC) lasers and microlasers with monolithically integrated deeply etched semiconductor-air Bragg-mirrors based on GaAs is reported. We observe a reduction of the threshold current density by 25% and an increase of the operation temperature by 23 K to a maximum of 315 K for 800 /spl mu/m long devices by employing Bragg-mirrors. Devices with ultra-short cavities of about 100 /spl mu/m (/spl sim/40 times the wavelength) operate up to 260 K. At 80 K, these devices show threshold currents as low as 0.63 A and output levels up to 56 mW. In these devices, longitudinal single mode operation with output levels exceeding 7.7, 5.6, and 2.8 mW was measured at 180, 200, and 240 K, respectively. This can be attributed to the limited gain bandwidth of QC lasers and the large mode spacing in these devices. By temperature control the emission wavelength can be tuned without mode jumps over 80 nm. The feasibility to pre-select the emission wavelength by a direct control of the Fabry-Perot mode was demonstrated by microlasers with 1 /spl mu/m cavity length difference.     

Carrier capture times in quantum-well, -wire, and -boxdistributed-feedback lasers characterized by dynamic lasing emissionmeasurements

We report experimental and theoretical studies of carrier capture times in low-dimensional semiconductor distributed feedback lasers with three different typical active region structures: quantum well (QW), wire, and box. The total effective carrier capture times of the lasers are directly determined by means of dynamic lasing emission measurements. By systematical comparison of QW, wire and box lasers, we evidence a strong dependence of the total effective carrier capture time on the packing density of the active region, which indicates the significant contribution of the local quantum capture time to the total effective carrier capture time, as revealed firstly by Kan et al. (1993). The intrinsic local carrier quantum capture time can be deduced from this kind of study. The determined local quantum carrier capture time for the InGaAs-InGaAsP QW laser is about 3 ps at 2 K, which is well consistent with a detailed quantum mechanics calculation. Furthermore, by comparison of box lasers with an approximate equal box size (70 nm) but different box densities, we find that the determined local quantum capture time of the box lasers is only about 2.4 ps at low temperature. We believe that this is a direct experimental indication of the existence of an efficient channel for carrier capture and relaxation in the investigated quantum-box system. The systematic comparison of QW, wire and dot lasers reveals the dominant limitation of the geometry effect on the high speed modulation of quantum wire and dot lasers, except when the quantum wires and dots are packed with a quite high density     

Resonant-Phonon Terahertz Quantum-Cascade Lasers and Video-Rate Terahertz Imaging

We review the development of terahertz quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) that can be uniquely qualified based on a resonant-phonon depopulation scheme. Record performances in terms of operating temperature and optical power output are reported. The best temperature performance is achieved in the metal-metal (MM) waveguides, which provide near-unity mode confinement and low waveguiding loss at terahertz (THz) frequencies even for cavities with subwavelength dimensions. A pulsed operation up to a heat-sink temperature of 169 K at v ~ 2.7 THz and a continuous-wave (CW) operation up to 117 K at v ~ 3 THz are demonstrated with a five-level design that has a two-well injector region. Some of the key temperature degradation mechanisms for this design are discussed. For operation at lower frequencies (v < 2 THz), a one-well injector design is developed that reduces intersubband absorption losses in the injector region. A QCL operating at v = 1.59 THz (lambda = 188.5 mum) up to a heat-sink temperature of 71 K in cw mode is demonstrated with that design. To obtain high-power output and low beam divergence from the MM waveguides, a lens-coupled scheme is demonstrated. A peak power output of 145 mW, a beam width of 4.8deg, and a maximum lasing temperature of 160 K are obtained from a 4.1 THz QCL in this configuration. In the latter part of the paper, we report on the demonstration of video-rate (20 frames/s) terahertz imaging with QCLs as the source for illumination and a 320 times 240 element room-temperature microbolometer focal plane array as the detector. The QCLs for the imaging system are processed into semiinsulating surface-plasmon waveguides, and are operated in a cryogen-free thermomechanical cooler in quasi-CW mode at a heat-sink temperature of ~30 K. Real-time imaging in transmission mode is demonstrated at a standoff distance of 25 m with a v ~ 4.9 THz QCL in this setup.     

Passively Mode-Locked 4.6 and 10.5 GHz Quantum Dot Laser Diodes Around 1.55 μm With Large Operating Regime

Passive mode-locking in two-section InAs/InP quantum dot laser diodes operating at wavelengths around 1.55 $mu$m is reported. For a 4.6-GHz laser, a large operating regime of stable mode-locking, with RF-peak heights of over 40 dB, is found for injection currents of 750 mA up to 1.0 A and for values of the absorber bias voltage of 0 V down to −3 V. Optical output spectra are broad, with a bandwidth of 6–7 nm. However, power exchange between different spectral components of the laser output leads to a relatively large phase jitter, resulting in a total timing jitter of around 35 ps. In a 4-mm-long, 10.5-GHz laser, it is shown that the operating regime of stable mode-locking is limited by the appearance of quantum dot excited state lasing, since higher injection current densities are necessary for these shorter lasers. The output pulses are stretched in time and heavily up-chirped with a value of 16–20 ps/nm. This mode of operation can be compared to Fourier domain mode-locking. The lasers have been realized using a fabrication technology that is compatible with further photonic integration. This makes such lasers promising candidates for, e.g., a coherent multiwavelength source in a complex photonic chip.      

1.55-μm InP-lattice-matched VCSELs with AlGaAsSb-AlAsSb DBRs

We review the design, fabrication, and characterization of 1.55-μm lattice-matched vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, operating continuous wave up to 88°C. For one embodiment, the threshold current is 800 μA, the differential quantum efficiency is 23%, and the maximum output power is more than 1 mW at 20°C and 110 μW at 80°C. The basic structure consists of AlAsSb-AlGaAsSb mirrors, which provide both high reflectivity and an InP-lattice-matched structure. The quaternary mirrors have poor electrical and thermal conductivities, which can raise the device temperature. However, a double-intracavity-contacted structure along with thick n-type InP cladding layers circumvents these drawbacks and finally leads to an excellent performance. The measured voltage and thermal impedances are much lower for the intracavity-contacted device than an air-post structure in which current is injected through the Sb-based quaternary mirror. The structure utilizes an undercut aperture for current and optical confinement. The aperture reduces scattering loss at the etched mirror and contributes to high differential efficiency and low threshold current density     

High-speed modulation and switching characteristics ofIn(Ga)As-Al(Ga)As self-organized quantum-dot lasers

The dynamic characteristics, and in particular the modulation bandwidth, of high-speed semiconductor lasers are determined by intrinsic factors and extrinsic parameters. In particular, carrier transport through the heterostructure and thermalization, or quantum capture in the gain region, tend to play an important role. We have made a detailed study of carrier relaxation and quantum capture phenomena in In(Ga)As-Al(Ga)As self-organized quantum dots (QD's) and single-mode lasers incorporating such dots in the gain region through a variety of measurements. The modulation bandwidth of QD lasers is limited to 5-6 GHz at room temperature and increases to ~30 GHz only upon lowering the temperature to 100 K. This behavior is explained by considering electron-hole scattering as the dominant mechanisms of electron relaxation in QD's and the scattering rate seems to decrease with increase of temperature. The switching of the emission wavelength, from the ground state to an excited state, has been studied in coupled cavity devices. It is found that the switching speed is determined intrinsically by the relaxation time of carriers into the QD states. Fast switching from the ground to the excited state transition is observed. The electrooptic coefficients in the dots have been measured and linear coefficient τ=2.58×10^-11 m/V. The characteristics of electrooptic modulators (EOM's) are also described     

Recent Advances on InAs/InP Quantum Dash Based Semiconductor Lasers and Optical Amplifiers Operating at 1.55 μm

This paper summarizes recent advances on InAs/InP quantum dash (QD) materials for lasers and amplifiers, and QD device performance with particular interest in optical communication. We investigate both InAs/InP dashes in a barrier and dashes in a well (DWELL) heterostructures operating at 1.5 mum. These two types of QDs can provide high gain and low losses. Continuous-wave (CW) room-temperature lasing operation on ground state of cavity length as short as 200 mum has been achieved, demonstrating the high modal gain of the active core. A threshold current density as low as 110 A/cm² per QD layer has been obtained for infinite-length DWELL laser. An optimized DWELL structure allows achieving of a T₀ larger than 100 K for broad-area (BA) lasers, and of 80 K for single-transverse-mode lasers in the temperature range between 25degC and 85degC. Buried ridge stripe (BRS)-type single-mode distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are also demonstrated for the first time, exhibiting a side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) as high as 45 dB. Such DFB lasers allow the first floor-free 10-Gb/s direct modulation for back-to-back and transmission over 16-km standard optical fiber. In addition, novel results are given on gain, noise, and four-wave mixing of QD-based semiconductor optical amplifiers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that QD Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers, owing to the small confinement factor and the three-dimensional (3-D) quantification of electronic energy levels, exhibit a beating linewidth as narrow as 15 kHz. Such an extremely narrow linewidth, compared to their QW or bulk counterparts, leads to the excellent phase noise and time-jitter characteristics when QD lasers are actively mode-locked. These advances constitute a new step toward the application of QD lasers and amplifiers to the field of optical fiber communications     

InGaAs-GaAs quantum-dot lasers

Quantum-dot (QD) lasers provide superior lasing characteristics compared to quantum-well (QW) and QW wire lasers due to their delta like density of states. Record threshold current densities of 40 A·cm ^-2 at 77 K and of 62 A·cm^-2 at 300 K are obtained while a characteristic temperature of 385 K is maintained up to 300 K. The internal quantum efficiency approaches values of ~80 %. Currently, operating QD lasers show broad-gain spectra with full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) up to ~50 meV, ultrahigh material gain of ~10⁵ cm^-1, differential gain of ~10^-13 cm² and strong nonlinear gain effects with a gain compression coefficient of ~10^-16 cm³. The modulation bandwidth is limited by nonlinear gain effects but can be increased by careful choice of the energy difference between QD and barrier states. The linewidth enhancement factor is ~0.5. The InGaAs-GaAs QD emission can be tuned between 0.95 μm and 1.37 μm at 300 K     

Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxial Growth of InAs/InGaAs Multiple Quantum Well Structures on InP Substrates

Device quality InAs/InGaAs multiple quantum well (MQW) structures were grown on InP substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and applied to lasers emitting at wavelengths longer than 2 mum. InAs/InGaAs MQWs with flat interfaces were obtained by adjusting the growth temperature between 460 degC and 510 degC. The photoluminescence peak wavelength of the MQWs increases from 1.93 to 2.47 mum as the thickness of InAs quantum wells increases from 2 to 7 nm. The structural and optical properties remained almost unchanged even after annealing at 620 degC. For 40-mu m-wide stripe broad-area lasers with 5-nm-thick InAs quantum wells, a lasing wavelength longer than 2.3 mum and an output power higher than 10 mW were achieved under continuous-wave operation at a temperature of 25 degC. These results indicate that InAs/InGaAs MQW structures grown by MOVPE are very useful for the active region of 2 mum wavelength lasers.     

Quantum Transport Simulation of Carrier Capture and Transport within Tunnel Injection Lasers

Hot electron distributions within the active region of quantum well lasers lead to gain suppression, reduced quantum efficiency, and increased diffusion capacitance, greater low-frequency roll-off and high-frequency chirp. Recently, tunnel injection lasers have been developed to minimize electron heating within the active quantum well region by direct injection of cool electrons from the separate confinement region into the lasing subband(s) through a tunneling barrier. Tunnel injection lasers, however, also present a rich physics of transport and scattering, and a correspondingly rich set of challenges to simulation and device optimization. For example, a Golden-Rule-based analysis of the carrier injection into the active region of the ideal tunnel injection laser would suggest approximately uniform injection of electrons among the nominally degenerate ground quantum well states from the separate confinement region states. However, such an analysis ignores (via a random-phase approximation among the final states) the basic real-space transport requirement that injected carriers still must pass through the wells sequentially, coherently or otherwise, with an associated attenuation of the injected current into each subsequent well due to electron-hole recombination in the prior well. Transport among the wells then can be either thermionic, or, of theoretically increasing importance for low temperature carriers, via tunneling. Coherent resonant tunneling between wells, however, is sensitive to the potential drops between wells that split the energies of the lasing subbands and (further) localizes the electron states to individual wells. In this work such transport issues are elucidated using Schrödinger Equation Monte Carlo (SEMC) based quantum transport simulation.     

MC simulation of double-resonant-phonon depopulation THz QCLs for high operating temperatures

We theoretically investigate the temperature performance of GaAs-based double-resonant-phonon depopulation THz quantum cascade lasers. Based on an ensemble Monte Carlo simulation including both carrier-phonon and carrier-carrier scattering, we evaluate the temperature dependence of the different carrier transport channels and identify the detrimental factors preventing high operating temperatures. As major detrimental effects, increased leakage from the upper laser level and a deteriorating depletion efficiency of the lower laser level is found for elevated temperatures.     

Monolithic integration via a universal damage enhanced quantum-wellintermixing technique

A novel technique for quantum-well intermixing is demonstrated, which has proven a reliable means for obtaining postgrowth shifts in the band edge of a wide range of III-V material systems. The technique relies upon the generation of point defects via plasma induced damage during the deposition of sputtered SiO₂, and provides a simple and reliable process for the fabrication of both wavelength tuned lasers and monolithically integrated devices. Wavelength tuned broad area oxide stripe lasers are demonstrated in InGaAs-InAlGaAs, InGaAs-InGaAsP, and GaInP-AlGaInP quantum well systems, and it is shown that low absorption losses are obtained after intermixing. Oxide stripe lasers with integrated slab waveguides have also enabled the production of a narrow single lobed far field (3°) pattern in both InGaAs-InAlGaAs, and GaInP-AlGaInP devices. Extended cavity ridge waveguide lasers operating at 1.5 μm are demonstrated with low loss (α=4.1 cm^-1) waveguides, and it is shown that this loss is limited only by free carrier absorption in waveguide cladding layers. In addition, the operation of intermixed multimode interference couplers is demonstrated, where four GaAs-AlGaAs laser amplifiers are monolithically integrated to produce high output powers of 180 mW in a single fundamental mode. The results illustrate that the technique can routinely be used to fabricate low-loss optical interconnects and offers a very promising route toward photonic integration     

Temperature Dependence of Thermal Conductivity and Boundary Resistance in THz Quantum Cascade Lasers

We measured the lattice temperature distribution, the cross-plane thermal conductivity , and the thermal boundary resistance (TBR) of the As quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) operating at 2.83 THz in the heat sink temperature range 45-300 K. This information was extracted from the analysis of microprobe band-to-band photoluminescence in QCLs operating in continuous wave. Both and TBR decrease monotonically at increasing temperature, the main influence on arising from the high density of interfaces.     

Improved luminescence from quantum-dot nanostructures embedded in structurally engineered (In,Ga)As confining layers

Efficient luminescence of quantum-dot nanostructures embedded in active regions of lasers is important for low-threshold current density devices. This paper discusses an approach for structurally engineering confining (In,Ga)As layers into which InAs quantum dots are inserted to enhance their emission efficiency. It is shown that by inserting the dots at the center of compositionally graded In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As layers, the relative emission efficiency can be increased by nearly an order of magnitude over the emission of dots inside a constant composition (In,Ga)As structure. This enhancement is thought to be a result of the high structural and optical quality of the confining layers.