2D trapezoidal waveguide design for near one terahertz quantum cascade lasers

Adam Ramker; Kaleb McClenathan; Zane Shellenbarger; Brian R. Poole; Natalie B. Kostinski; Fatima Toor

doi:10.1117/12.3028979

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Conference proceeding

2D trapezoidal waveguide design for near one terahertz quantum cascade lasers

Adam Ramker, Kaleb McClenathan, Zane Shellenbarger, Brian R. Poole, Natalie B. Kostinski and Fatima Toor

Vol.13129, pp.131290Q-131290Q-9

10/01/2024

DOI: 10.1117/12.3028979

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Abstract

Waveguide engineering is essential for terahertz (THz) Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs) to achieve high power output at approximately1 THz, due in part to confinement of the lowest order Transverse Magnetic (TM) mode. In this work, we report on waveguide engineering of approximately 1 THz QCLs to achieve lower gain threshold by increasing the confinement factor and decreasing the total waveguide loss. Gain threshold is modeled for the common types of THz QCL waveguides, i.e., Semi-Insulating Single Plasmon (SISP) and Metal-Metal (MM) waveguides at approximately 1 THz. A SISP-MM hybrid waveguide design is introduced for the first time, resulting in a lower gain threshold than SISP and MM waveguide designs alone. A SISP-MM hybrid design is presented with over 87% confinement factor and 26.55 cm-1 optical loss.

Terahertz lasers

quantum cascade lasers

waveguide engineering

metal-metal waveguides

semi-insulating surface plasmon (SISP) waveguides

Drude loss

Details

Title: Subtitle: 2D trapezoidal waveguide design for near one terahertz quantum cascade lasers
Creators: Adam Ramker - The Univ. of Iowa (United States)
Kaleb McClenathan - The Univ. of Iowa (United States)
Zane Shellenbarger - SRI International
Brian R. Poole - Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (United States)
Natalie B. Kostinski - Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (United States)
Fatima Toor - University of Iowa
Contributors: Mark A. Kahan (Editor) - Synopsys, Inc. (United States)
Catherine Merrill (Editor) - Ruda Optical (United States)
Resource Type: Conference proceeding
Publication Details: Vol.13129, pp.131290Q-131290Q-9
Publisher: SPIE
DOI: 10.1117/12.3028979
ISSN: 0277-786X
eISSN: 1996-756X
Grant note: U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: DE-AC52-07NA27344
This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.
Language: English
Date published: 10/01/2024
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy; Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Iowa Technology Institute
Record Identifier: 9984722938402771

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