MEMS-based tunable terahertz wire-laser over 330 GHz
We demonstrate continuous tuning of a terahertz quantum cascade wire laser over a broad range of ~ 330 GHz ( ~ 8.6% of the 3.85 THz center frequency) with single-mode operation. Tuning is achieved with a narrow laser ridge ( ~ λ[subscript o]/8 ) and a moveable MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) s...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Optical Society of America
2014
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/86348 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5100-3709 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1982-4053 |
| Summary: | We demonstrate continuous tuning of a terahertz quantum cascade wire laser over a broad range of ~ 330 GHz ( ~ 8.6% of the 3.85 THz center frequency) with single-mode operation. Tuning is achieved with a narrow laser ridge ( ~ λ[subscript o]/8 ) and a moveable MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) side object (plunger) to manipulate the transverse optical mode. The frictionless MEMS plunger enables continuous and reversible tuning. We demonstrate ~ 30 GHz redshift tuning using a silicon plunger and ~ 300 GHz blueshift tuning using a metal plunger. The blueshift tuning range is limited by the bandwidth of the gain medium rather than the tuning mechanism. |
|---|