Multimode regimes in quantum cascade lasers:: From coherent instabilities to spatial hole burning

被引：178

作者：

Gordon, Ariel ^{[1
,2
]}

Wang, Christine Y. ^{[3
]}

Diehl, L. ^{[4
]}

Kaertner, F. X. ^{[1
,2
]}

Belyanin, A. ^{[5
]}

Bour, D. ^{[6
]}

Corzine, S. ^{[6
]}

Hoefler, G. ^{[6
]}

Liu, H. C. ^{[7
]}

Schneider, H. ^{[8
]}

Maier, T. ^{[8
]}

Troccoli, M. ^{[4
]}

Faist, J. ^{[9
]}

Capasso, Federico ^{[4
]}

机构：

[1] MIT, Dept Elect Engn & Comp Sci, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

[2] MIT, Elect Res Lab, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

[3] Harvard Univ, Dept Phys, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[4] Harvard Univ, Sch Engn & Appl Sci, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[5] Texas A&M Univ, Dept Phys, College Stn, TX 77843 USA

[6] Agilent Technol, Palo Alto, CA 94306 USA

[7] CNR, Inst Microstruct Sci, Ottawa, ON K1A R6, Canada

[8] Fraunhofer Inst Appl Solid State Phys, D-79108 Freiburg, Germany

[9] ETH, Inst Quantum Elect, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

来源：

PHYSICAL REVIEW A | 2008年 / 77卷 / 05期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1103/PhysRevA.77.053804

中图分类号：

O43 [光学];

学科分类号：

070207 ; 0803 ;

摘要：

A theoretical and experimental study of multimode operation regimes in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) is presented. It is shown that the fast gain recovery of QCLs promotes two multimode regimes: One is spatial hole burning (SHB) and the other one is related to the Risken-Nummedal-Graham-Haken instability predicted in the 1960s. A model that can account for coherent phenomena, a saturable absorber, and SHB is developed and studied in detail both analytically and numerically. A wide variety of experimental data on multimode regimes is presented. Lasers with a narrow active region and/or with metal coating on the sides tend to develop a splitting in the spectrum, approximately equal to twice the Rabi frequency. It is proposed that this behavior stems from the presence of a saturable absorber, which can result from a Kerr lensing effect in the cavity. Lasers with a wide active region, which have a weaker saturable absorber, do not exhibit a Rabi splitting and their multimode regime is governed by SHB. This experimental phenomenology is well-explained by our theoretical model. The temperature dependence of the multimode regime is also presented.

引用

页数：18

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