太赫兹量子级联激光器

太赫兹技术近年来发展迅速,应用越来越广泛,是当前的热门研究领域。太赫兹量子级联激光器是产生太赫兹辐射的重要器件,对太赫兹量子级联激光器的发展,以及有源区和波导层的设计等进行了详细讨论。     

Terahertz Technology Research at NICT

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has been researching the use of terahertz (THz) band from its source to industrial applications. Major accomplishments to date include the development of THz devices such as a quantum cascade laser source, a portable stand-off imaging system, an establishment of propagation model, and a spectral database. We also encourage applications in a range of research fields, such as art conservation science. Because standardisation will be an important step in making the THz wave a common tool, NICT will be pursuing THz methodological activities.     

High-Performance Growth of Terahertz Quantum Cascade Laser Structures by Solid Source MBE

Semiconductors - High performance growth of terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz QCLs) based on hybrid bound-to-continuum transition and resonant phonon extraction is presented by solid source...     

0. 34THz大气传播测试系统设计

介绍了我国第一套太赫兹波大气传播测试系统的组成以及功能。该系统采用准光学结构使频率为0.34 THz 信号在相距150 m 的两个建筑物之间来回传播,记录不同传播条件下接收的信号强度。基于长期的观测数据获得0.34 THz 的大气及降雨衰减的统计传播特性,为使用0.34 THz 的通信和雷达等无线电系统的设计、运行提供基础数据。     

Simulation of electron transport in GaAs/AlAs superlattices with a small number of periods for the THz frequency range

The electron transport in superlattices based on GaAs/AlAs heterostructures with a small number of periods (6 periods) is calculated by the Monte Carlo method. These superlattices are used in terahertz diodes for the frequency stabilization of quantum cascade lasers in the range up to 4.7 THz. The band structure of superlattices with different numbers of AlAs monolayers is considered and their current–voltage characteristics are calculated. The calculated current–voltage characteristics are compared with the experimental data. The possibility of the efficient application of these superlattices in the THz frequency range is established both theoretically and experimentally.     

High Resolution Terahertz Spectroscopy with Quantum Cascade Lasers

High resolution terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is a powerful analytical tool for laboratory purposes as well as for remote sensing in astronomy, planetary research, and Earth observation. THz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are promising sources for implementation into THz spectrometers, in particular at frequencies above 3 THz, which is the least explored portion of the THz region. One application of QCLs in THz spectroscopy is in absorption spectrometers, where they can replace less powerful and somewhat cumbersome sources based on frequency mixing with gas lasers. Another one is using a QCL as local oscillator in a heterodyne spectrometer for remote sensing. This article will review the state-of-the art in high resolution THz spectroscopy with QCLs.     

太赫兹量子级联激光器有源区有限元模拟

采用有限元分析法解决了太赫兹量子级联激光器(THz QCL)有源区模拟问题。由于InP基差频THz QCL有源区为千层纳米结构,无法拆分实验探索,因此模拟分析显得尤为必要。首先列出有源区量子结构的薛定谔方程,而后采用Galerkin有限元法改写薛定谔方程,再根据连续性和边界条件,得到本征值矩阵方程,最后采用Matlab写出运算程序求解本征值矩阵方程,求出波函数。针对不同有源区量子结构,设定材料、组分、厚度和周期数及外加偏压等参数,即可得到波函数模方、能级、频率和波长等模拟结果。选取InP基差频THz QCL结构进行验证,结果表明此模型切实可行,其拓展应用也可以解决GaAs THz QCL模拟问题。     

太赫兹技术的发展现状及应用前景分析

简要介绍了太赫兹辐射源和太赫兹探测器,特别是THz量子级联激光器（QCL）和THz量子阱红外光子探测器（QWIP）的原理、特点及研究现状.分析了太赫兹技术工程应用前景及限制因素.指出作用距离是决定太赫兹技术应用的关键因素之一.如果太赫兹辐射在大气对流层内传输时的衰减问题不能得到有效解决,那么太赫兹技术在地面或海上的应用可能受到严重制约.基于机载或星载平台的太赫兹雷达或通信,则具有诱人的应用前景.     

Compact, High-Power Electron Beam Based Terahertz Sources

Although terahertz (THz) radiation was first observed about 100 years ago, this portion of the electromagnetic spectrum at the boundary between the microwaves and the infrared has been, for a long time, rather poorly explored. This situation changed with the rapid development of coherent THz sources such as solid-state oscillators, quantum cascade lasers, optically pumped solid-state devices, and novel coherent radiator devices. These in turn have stimulated a wide variety of applications from material science to telecommunications, from biology to biomedicine. Recently, there have been two related compact coherent radiation devices invented able to produce up to megawatts of peak THz power by inducing a ballistic bunching effect on the electron beam, forcing the beam to radiate coherently. An introduction to the two systems and the corresponding output photon beam characteristics will be provided.     

量子级联激光器的原理及研究进展

量子级联激光器的发明是半导体激光器领域里程碑的发展,开创了中远红外半导体激光的新领域,在红外对抗、毒品和爆炸物检测、环境污染监测、太赫兹成像等方向有广泛的应用前景.本文阐述了量子级联激光器的基本原理、以及材料和器件的研究,结合应用方向对其研究进展进行了综述性介绍.     

Study of atmospheric attenuation characteristics of terahertz wave based on line‐by‐line integration

Terahertz band communication promises new solution for satisfying the increasing demand for ultrahigh‐speed wireless communication. Channel models capturing the unique peculiarities of the terahertz (THz) band are required for communication systems designing. Extreme high molecular absorption is a distinctive phenomenon that has to be involved in terahertz communication models. Research in this field has mainly focused on the characteristics along the horizontal propagation path. In this paper, we developed a unified molecular absorption model along the slant propagation path of the THz wave, based on the line‐by‐line integration method developed by Van‐Vleck and Weisskopf and combining the molecular spectral line in the HITRAN database. Then, an in‐depth analysis on the THz channel characteristics is carried out by the developed propagation models. The attenuation characteristics of terahertz waves with frequencies in the range of 0.1 to 1 THz are analyzed by theoretical and mathematical modeling. The results show that the terahertz communication channel has a strong dependence on both the molecular composition of the medium and the transmission distance. The experimental results also indicate the strong absorption frequency points, weak absorption frequency points, and spectral windows.     

Dilute magnetic semiconductor quantum-well structures for magnetic field tunable far-infrared/terahertz absorption

The design of ZnCdSe-ZnMnSe-based quantum wells is considered, in order to obtain a large shift of the peak absorption wavelength in the far infrared range, due to a giant Zeeman splitting with magnetic field, while maintaining a reasonably large value of peak absorption. A triple quantum-well structure with a suitable choice of parameters has been found to satisfy such requirements. A maximal tuning range between 14.6 and 34.7 meV is obtained, when the magnetic field varies from zero to 5 T, so the wavelength of the absorbed radiation decreases from 85.2 to 35.7 /spl mu/m with absorption up to 1.25% at low temperatures. These structures might form the basis for magnetic field tunable photodetectors and quantum cascade lasers in the terahertz range.     

基于THz QCL 和THz QWP 的数字通信演示系统

随着无线通信速率需求的增加和材料生长、器件工艺制作水平的提高,太赫兹（THz）通信已成为未来高速无线通信系统发展的一个重要方向。介绍了太赫兹通信的特点以及国际上太赫兹通信系统的发展现状,并报导了一种利用太赫兹量子级联激光器（THz QCL）作为发射源,太赫兹量子阱探测器（THz QWP）作为接收器的太赫兹数字通信演示系统。该系统采用On-Off-Key（OOK）调制和直接强度检测方式,通信频点为3.9 THz,通信距离为2.2 m,传输速率可达1 Mbps 以上。最后探讨了该系统的带宽限制因素及其在通信速率方面的潜力。     

太赫兹波大气衰减的抛物方程模型

抛物方程是一种模拟电波传播特性的高效模型,但目前抛物方程模型在模拟电波传播时,主要考虑大气的折射效应而忽略了其吸收作用,然而太赫兹波的大气衰减较为严重。通过引入大气分子吸收的复折射率,实现了应用抛物方程模型计算太赫兹波的大气衰减。该模型考虑了大气压强、温度和水汽密度等气象参数随高度变化对大气衰减的影响,且能够针对不同地区和季节的气象条件对大气衰减进行计算,与真实环境更加符合。最后利用该模型仿真分析了0.14 THz波的传播特性,给出了传播损耗随距离和高度的变化,并与忽略大气衰减的结果进行了对比,结果表明抛物方程模型能同时体现太赫兹的大气吸收效应和多径传播效应。     

Analysis of Terahertz Radiation Spectra in Multilayer GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructures

The results of examination of the terahertz radiation spectra of multilayer GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures synthesized on GaAs substrates are presented. The dependence of the radiation spectrum on the amplitude of the excitation current pulse and temperature dependences of the threshold lasing current and the radiation power of terahertz quantum cascade lasers with a double metallic waveguide, which were built on the basis of these structures, have been obtained. The maximum amplitude of the total radiation power is estimated at 28 μW in the range 3.25–3.32 THz at a temperature of 15 K. The spectral radiation density of the oscillator is measured. Changes in the mode content of radiation induced by the bias-current variation have been observed.     

Scalable Microstructured Photoconductive Terahertz Emitters

The development of scalable emitters for pulsed broadband terahertz (THz) radiation is reviewed. Their large active area in the 1 – 100 mm² range allows for using the full power of state-of-the-art femtosecond lasers for excitation of charge carriers. Large fields for acceleration of the photogenerated carriers are achieved at moderate voltages by interdigitated electrodes. This results in efficient emission of single-cycle THz waves. THz field amplitudes in the range of 300 V/cm and 17 kV/cm are reached for excitation with 10 nJ pulses from Ti:sapphire oscillators and for excitation with 5 μJ pulses from amplified lasers, respectively. The corresponding efficiencies for conversion of near-infrared to THz radiation are 2.5 × 10^-4 (oscillator excitation) and 2 × 10^-3 (amplifier excitation). In this article the principle of operation of scalable emitters is explained and different technical realizations are described. We demonstrate that the scalable concept provides freedom for designing optimized antenna patterns for different polarization modes. In particular emitters for linearly, radially and azimuthally polarized radiation are discussed. The success story of photoconductive THz emitters is closely linked to the development of mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers. GaAs is an ideal photoconductive material for THz emitters excited with Ti:sapphire lasers, which are widely used in research laboratories. For many applications, especially in industrial environments, however, fiber-based lasers are strongly preferred due to their lower cost, compactness and extremely stable operation. Designing photoconductive emitters on InGaAs materials, which have a low enough energy gap for excitation with fiber lasers, is challenging due to the electrical properties of the materials. We discuss why the challenges are even larger for microstructured THz emitters as compared to conventional photoconductive antennas and present first results of emitters suitable for excitation with ytterbium-based fiber lasers. Furthermore an alternative concept, namely the lateral photo-Dember emitter, is presented. Due to the strong THz output scalable emitters are well suited for THz systems with fast data acquisition. Here the application of scalable emitters in THz spectrometers without mechanical delay stages, providing THz spectra with 1 GHz spectral resolution and a signal-to-noise ratio of 37 dB within 1 s, is presented. Finally a few highlight experiments with radiation from scalable THz emitters are reviewed. This includes a brief discussion of near-field microscopy experiments as well as an overview over gain studies of quantum-cascade lasers.     

基于HITRAN的太赫兹波大气吸收特性

基于分子光谱数据库HITRAN中的谱线参数和传播理论得到了氧气分子、氮气分子和水蒸气分子的吸收系数,同时计算了氧气、氮气2种单组分气体以及水蒸气对太赫兹波辐射在1 km上的吸收衰减系数。在0.1 THz-1 THz频率范围内与ITU-R P.676进行比较,结果显示,2种结果吻合较好,尤其在吸收带。这也间接验证了本文计算方法在太赫兹波其他频段吸收衰减计算结果的正确性。     

Semiconductor Diode Lasers for Terahertz Technology

We discuss different concepts for generating terahertz (THz) radiation with semiconductor diode lasers. Photomixing enables the generation of continuous wave THz radiation by difference frequency generation of two lasers or of two-colour lasers. Pulsed THz radiation for time domain THz spectroscopy is generated with modelocked diode laser systems including amplification and chirp compression. Finally, we analyse the concept of quasi time domain spectroscopy based on broadband diode laser systems.     

Terahertz Semiconductor Quantum Well Devices

For eventually providing terahertz science with compact and convenient devices,terahertz (1～10THz) quantum-well photodetectors and quantum-cascade lasers are investigated. The design and projected detector performance are presented together with experimental results for several test devices,all working at photon energies below and around optical phonons. Background limited infrared performance (BLIP) operations are observed for all samples (three in total) ,designed for different wavelengths. BLIP temperatures of 17,13, and 12K are achieved for peak detection frequencies of 9.7THz(31μm) ,5.4THz(56μm) ,and 3.2THz(93μm) ,respectively. A set of THz quantum-cascade lasers with identical device parameters except for doping concentration is studied. The δ-doping density for each period varies from 3.2 × 1010 to 4. 8 × 1010cm-2. We observe that the lasing threshold current density increases monotonically with doping concentration. Moreover, the measurements for devices with different cavity lengths provide evidence that the free carrier absorption causes the waveguide loss also to increase monotonically. Interestingly the observed maximum lasing temperature is best at a doping density of 3.6 × 1010cm-2.     

太赫兹量子级联激光器中的光电调控：综述

太赫兹量子级联激光器作为目前产生太赫兹激光的最有效手段之一,如何提升其性能表现一直是科学界所关注的重点。本篇综述将从光电调控的角度,阐述目前太赫兹量子级联激光器的性能进展。从激光器有源区设计原理开始,介绍几种新的有源区设计,再从谐振腔的角度介绍一系列新的结构,并展示他们对于功率和光束质量的提升。最后,阐述了太赫兹量子级联激光器在偏振调控和频率调谐的最新进展。