Room temperature high-power terahertz semiconductor laser with high-quality beam shape and stable spectral emission

具有高质量光束形状和稳定光谱发射的室温高功率太赫兹半导体激光器

• 批准号: 2149908
• 负责人: Manijeh Razeghi
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-05-15 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2149908&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Room; temperature; power; terahertz; semiconductor

This project seeks to develop compact and high power THz sources in order to close an important gap in technology between microwave and optical devices. This is a transition area between electronics and optics as well as a transition area between classical mechanics and quantum physics. The specific location of THz waves in the electromagnetic spectrum also gives them a plethora of unique properties. For an example, THz waves can pass through a variety of substances, including synthetics, textiles, paper, and cardboard. Also, many biomolecules, proteins, explosives or narcotics feature characteristic absorption signatures at the frequencies between 1 and 5 THz. Therefore, two major applications of THz radiation are imaging, sensing and spectroscopy. Besides, unlike X-rays, THz waves do not have any ionizing effects and are generally considered biologically innocuous. This makes THz waves much safer and healthier than X-rays when used for security checks and medical diagnosis. In addition, as the THz frequency is orders of magnitude higher than tht used for traditional wireless internet, there is the potential to apply THz technology for the next-generation of high-speed wireless communications. Unfortunately, current commercial sources of THz radiation are either extremely large or require cryogenic cooling, neither of which are desirable traits for widespread use. By integrating quantum device engineering, nonlinear optics, optical phased arrays, and photonic integrated circuit technology, it may now be possible to realize a compact, mass-producible, and room temperature THz source with high output power in continuous operation. This source will represent an enabling technology for all of the applications mentioned above.The proposed THz frequency source is based on difference frequency generation (DFG) in a dual-wavelength quantum cascade laser (QCL) that has been configured as an optical phased array (OPA) for coherent, high power operation. The utility of the OPA is to both manage waste heat and provide near diffraction limited beam quality for THz emission. With proper heat management and packaging, this will be the first room chip-based semiconductor laser with 1 mW CW THz output power at room temperature. This type of THz source inherits all of the advantages of the mid-infrared QCLs, such as room temperature operation, electrical pumping, compact size, stable emission, and the potential for mass production. This multidisciplinary project is a combination of both theory and experiment covering diverse fields, including semiconductor physics, material science, quantum mechanics, optoelectronics, nonlinear optics, thermal management, and micro/nanotechnology. In additional to the practical use of the technology that will be developed, project details also make an excellent case study for integrated device development, which will be explored as part of the Solid State Engineering curriculum at Northwestern University.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在开发紧凑和高功率的THz源，以缩小微波和光学器件之间的技术差距。这是电子学和光学之间的过渡领域，也是经典力学和量子物理之间的过渡领域。太赫兹波在电磁频谱中的特定位置也赋予了它们大量独特的属性。例如，太赫兹波可以穿过各种物质，包括合成材料、纺织品、纸张和纸板。此外，许多生物分子、蛋白质、爆炸物或麻醉剂在1和5 THz之间的频率下具有特征吸收特征。因此，太赫兹辐射的两个主要应用是成像、传感和光谱学。此外，与X射线不同，太赫兹波没有任何电离效应，通常被认为对生物无害。这使得太赫兹波在用于安全检查和医疗诊断时比X射线更安全，更健康。此外，由于太赫兹频率比传统无线互联网所使用的频率高出几个数量级，因此有可能将太赫兹技术应用于下一代高速无线通信。不幸的是，目前的商业太赫兹辐射源要么非常大，要么需要低温冷却，这两者都不是广泛使用的理想特征。通过集成量子器件工程、非线性光学、光学相控阵和光子集成电路技术，现在有可能实现一种紧凑、可批量生产的室温THz源，该源具有连续工作的高输出功率。 该源将代表上述所有应用的使能技术。所提出的THz频率源基于双波长量子级联激光器（QCL）中的差频产生（DFG），该激光器已被配置为用于相干、高功率操作的光学相控阵（OPA）。 OPA的效用是既管理废热又为THz发射提供接近衍射极限的光束质量。 通过适当的热管理和包装，这将是第一台在室温下具有1 mW CW THz输出功率的室内芯片半导体激光器。 这种类型的THz源继承了中红外QCL的所有优点，例如室温操作、电泵浦、紧凑的尺寸、稳定的发射以及批量生产的潜力。这个多学科项目是理论和实验的结合，涵盖了不同的领域，包括半导体物理，材料科学，量子力学，光电子学，非线性光学，热管理和微/纳米技术。除了将开发的技术的实际应用外，项目细节也为集成器件开发提供了一个很好的案例研究，这将作为西北大学固态工程课程的一部分进行探索。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

项目成果

High power, room temperature, terahertz sources and frequency comb based on difference-frequency generation at CQD

基于 CQD 差频生成的高功率、室温、太赫兹源和频率梳

• DOI: 10.1117/12.2635322
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: and Applications XIII
• 作者: Razeghi, Manijeh