Quantum well intersubband THz lasers and detectors

Richard A. Soref; Lionel R. Friedman; Gregory Sun; Michael J. Noble; L. R. Ram-Mohan

doi:10.1117/12.370202

12 November 1999 Quantum well intersubband THz lasers and detectors

Richard A. Soref, Lionel R. Friedman, Gregory Sun, Michael J. Noble, L. R. Ram-Mohan

Proceedings Volume 3795, Terahertz and Gigahertz Photonics; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.370202
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1999, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

This paper presents modeling and simulation results on Si- based quantum-well intersubband THz detectors and THz lasers (tasers) in the 3 to 10 THz range where the intersubband transition energy is 12 to 41 meV. The incoherent cryogenically cooled (4 K to 20 K) quantum well terahertz detector (QWTD) consists of p-type Si_0.9Ge_0.1 QWs with Si barriers on an Si substrate, or of p-Si_0.85Ge_0.15/Si on a relaxed Si_0.97Ge_0.03 buffer on Si. The QWTD senses THz radiation at normal incidence (the XY polarization on the HH1 to LH1 transition) or at edge- illumination (the Z polarization on the HH1 to HH2 transition). Resonant-cavity enhancement, coupling to Si THz waveguides, and integration with SiGe transistor preamplifiers appear feasible for QWTDs. The quantum staircase taser is a simplified far-infrared version of the quantum cascade laser in which each superlattice transfer region is replaced by a thin tunnel-barrier layer. We have adapted to group IV the III-V idea of Sun, Lu, and Khurgin; the `inverted mass taser'. On a Si_0.81Ge_0.19 substrate, we find that an inverted effective mass exists in LH1 at k_g equals 0.013 angstroms^-1 in 9-nm single- wells of Si_0.7Ge_0.3 with 5-nm Si barriers. Selective electrical injection of holes into LH1 at T equals 77 K is postulated. This offers local-in-k-space LH1-HH1 population inversion and tasing at 7.2 THz. Since the taser emission is XY-polarized, the active MQW staircase (a set of identical square QWs) is suitable for insertion into a vertical cavity surface-emitting taser. The VCSET would have resonator thickness of (lambda) /2n equals 6 micrometers , and Bragg mirrors constructed from SiO₂/Si multilayers.

Citation Download Citation

Richard A. Soref, Lionel R. Friedman, Gregory Sun, Michael J. Noble, and L. R. Ram-Mohan "Quantum well intersubband THz lasers and detectors", Proc. SPIE 3795, Terahertz and Gigahertz Photonics, (12 November 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.370202

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