COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Room-temperature terahertz semiconductor Raman lasers

该项目的目标是开发基于半导体超晶格中与子带间跃迁相关的巨大拉曼非线性的室温太赫兹半导体拉曼激光器。新设备预计将在室温下工作，因为拉曼增益确实需要在低能量太赫兹跃迁中进行布居反转。巨大的拉曼非线性将允许使用对接在拉曼部分的中红外量子级联激光器进行泵浦。这种器件结构将产生毫米级电泵浦太赫兹半导体激光光源。本研究的智力价值在于探索一种新的、非常有前途的方法来产生第一个室温太赫兹半导体激光器光源。这项工作将加深我们对半导体纳米结构中的光学非线性和子带间电子动力学的理解。该项目承诺在最先进的太赫兹源方面取得重大进展，生产出在室温、更高功率下运行的紧凑型半导体器件，并具有宽带电可调谐等新功能。这项拟议的研究是光电子学、非线性光学和半导体物理学的交叉学科。这些学科的结合为参与该项目的学生提供了一个独特的教育环境。在研究中开发的知识和技术将被纳入研究生和本科生水平的课程，通过出版物、技术转让和研究小组进行传播？网站。根据该计划开发的室温太赫兹半导体激光器预计将改变现有的太赫兹仪器，应用范围从射电天文学的高分辨率光谱学和本地振荡器到太赫兹遥感和成像。

The objective of this program is to develop room-temperature terahertz semiconductor Raman lasers based on giant Raman nonlinearities associated with intersubband transitions in semiconductor superlattices. The new devices are expected to operate at room temperature because the Raman gain does require population inversion across the low-energy terahertz transition. Giant values of Raman nonlinearity will allow using midinfrared quantum cascade laser butt-joined to the Raman section for pumping. Such device configuration will result in millimeter-sized electrically-pumped terahertz semiconductor laser sources.The intellectual merit of this research is to explore a novel and highly promising approach to produce the first room-temperature terahertz semiconductor laser source. This work will enhance our understanding of optical nonlinearities and intersubband electron dynamics in semiconductor nanostructures. This project promises significant advances in state of the art terahertz sources, yielding compact semiconductor devices operating at room temperature, at higher power, and with new functionalities such as broadband electric tunability.The broader impacts are also significant. The proposed research lies at the intersection of the optoelectronics, nonlinear optics, and physics of semiconductors. This combination of disciplines offers a unique educational environment for the students involved in the project. Knowledge and techniques developed during research will be incorporated into graduate- and undergraduate-level courses, disseminated through publications, technology transfer, and the research groups? websites. Room-temperature terahertz semiconductor lasers developed as a result of this program are expected to transform existing terahertz instrumentation with applications ranging from high-resolution spectroscopy and local oscillators for radio astronomy to terahertz remote sensing and imaging.