Quantum Cascade Laser Frequency Combs
| Autor: | Faist Jérôme, Villares Gustavo, Scalari Giacomo, Rösch Markus, Bonzon Christopher, Hugi Andreas, Beck Mattias |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Nanophotonics, Vol 5, Iss 2, Pp 272-291 (2016) |
| Druh dokumentu: | article |
| ISSN: | 2192-8606 2192-8614 |
| DOI: | 10.1515/nanoph-2016-0015 |
| Popis: | It was recently demonstrated that broadband quantum cascade lasers can operate as frequency combs. As such, they operate under direct electrical pumping at both mid-infrared and THz frequencies, making them very attractive for dual-comb spectroscopy. Performance levels are continuously improving, with average powers over 100mW and frequency coverage of 100 cm-1 in the mid-infrared region. In the THz range, 10mW of average power and 600 GHz of frequency coverage are reported. As a result of the very short upper state lifetime of the gain medium, the mode proliferation in these sources arises from four-wave mixing rather than saturable absorption. As a result, their optical output is characterized by the tendency of small intensity modulation of the output power, and the relative phases of the modes to be similar to the ones of a frequency modulated laser. Recent results include the proof of comb operation down to a metrological level, the observation of a Schawlow-Townes broadened linewidth, as well as the first dual-comb spectroscopy measurements. The capability of the structure to integrate monothically nonlinear optical elements as well as to operate as a detector shows great promise for future chip integration of dual-comb systems. |
| Databáze: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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