Beam steering and lateral hole burning in mid‐infrared quantum‐ cascade lasers

Yang, Quankui; Kinzer, M.; Fuchs, F.; Hugger, S.; Hinkov, Borislav; Bronner, W.; Lösch, R.; Aidam, R.; Wagner, J.

doi:10.1002/pssc.201100248

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This phenomenon occurs in various types of semiconductor lasers including quantum cascade lasers. In the latter the beam steering was already observed upon change of the driving current (Bewley et al 2005 ; Yu et al 2009 ; Yang et al 2012 ) and also when the supply pulse was of a constant value (Yu et al 2012 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The origin of the beam steering phenomenon has been thus ascribed to a lateral hole burning in the population inversion. Such an idea in respect of carrier distribution was analysed in detail by Yang et al ( 2012 ). Keeping this in mind, in this paper we will focus on an optical analysis of the coexistence of the transverse modes and its variation in time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intra-pulse beam steering in a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser

et al. 2014

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The intra-pulse measurements of the beam steering in an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum cascade laser are presented in this paper. The experimental results are explained by a two-mode theoretical model. The near field of the laser radiation is calculated according to the effective index method and transposed to the far field numerically according to Huygens principle. The maximal observed value of deflection of the beam has been found to be . For supply currents in the range from 1.6 to 2.4 times the threshold the beam steering occurs only on one side of the resonator axis, and stays is the same for all current values. For higher supply current, it occurs alternately on both sides and exhibits a bistability. The time period of the beam direction change has been found to be about 40 ns for the lowest current and was decreasing with the current increase to about 20 ns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra-pulse beam steering in a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser

et al. 2014

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“…Such emitted beam has been reported, on occasion, to randomly fluctuate over time and steer in plane [3,4]. These fluctuations are attributed to the multiple transverse modes interaction within the cavity [3,4], and/or lateral hole burning [5]. Lateral mode control has received a lot of attention in the past decade.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transverse mode control in quantum cascade lasers via lossy lateral constrictions

et al. 2013

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Quantum Cascade (QC) lasers are semiconductor devices operating in the mid-infrared and terahertz regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since their first demonstration in 1994, they have evolved rapidly into high power devices. However, they also have intrinsic challenges, such as beam steering at high power. Such phenomenon has been observed in QC lasers and attributed to the interaction between the two lowest transverse modes in the laser cavity.In this project, we have used COMSOL Multiphysics simulations to first investigate how transverse mode propagation can be controlled with cavity spoilers. We have modeled this effect by creating short and lossy lateral constrictions from the top of the laser ridge to perturb the modes distributed more toward the sides of the laser ridge, while leaving the fundamental mode intact. After obtaining optimized dimensions for the constrictions, we have utilized focused ion beam (FIB) milling to etch two small trenches from the top of several laser ridges to create the simulated effect on our devices. We, then, filled them with platinum in an effort to completely suppress the propagation of higher order transverse modes in the cavity. The results obtained show minimal effect on threshold and a Gaussian far-field distribution at various current levels, indicating a complete suppression of the higher order transverse modes.

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“…[6] For example, it not only affects the longdistance accurate detection of explosives by the laser through backscatter spectroscopy, but also stands as a huge obstacle for the directional infrared countermeasure (DIRCM). [6][7][8] Nevertheless, it is also possibly to be deliberately controlled [9] and used to perform laser projection by adjusting or scanning the direction of the laser beam. [10,11] Therefore, the origin of the beam steering effects has to be understood so that QC lasers can be better applied.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[10,11] Therefore, the origin of the beam steering effects has to be understood so that QC lasers can be better applied. Although the experimental evidence for beam steering in QC lasers has been reported and generally at-tributed to the interference of transverse modes [6,12] and spatial hole burning induced by higher lateral modes, [7] few studies have been done to explicitly establish an intrinsic linkage between the spectral instabilities and the beam steering and to explore the valuable criterion of the phase locking between the two lowest transverse modes when the beam steering happens.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beam steering characteristics in high-power quantum-cascade lasers emitting at ∼ 4.6 μm*

Sun¹,

Zhang²,

Feng³

et al. 2021

Chinese Phys. B

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A beam steering effect of high-power quantum cascade (QC) lasers emitting at ∼ 4.6 μm was investigated. The continuous wave (CW) output power of an uncoated, 6-mm-long, 7.5-μm-wide buried-heterostructure QC laser at 25 °C was as high as 854.2 mW. The maximum beam steering angle was offset by ± 14.2° from the facet normal (0°) in pulsed mode. The phenomenon was judged explicitly by combining the diffraction limit theory and Fourier transform of the spectra. It was also verified by finite element method software simulation and the calculation of two-dimensional (2D) effective-index model. The observed steering is consistent with a theory for coherence between the two lowest order lateral modes. Therefore, we have established an intrinsic linkage between the spectral instabilities and the beam steering by using the Fourier transform of the spectra, and further presented an extremely valid method to judge the beam steering. The content of this method includes both three equidistant peak positions in the Fourier transform of the spectra and the beam quality located between once the diffraction limit (DL) and twice the DL.

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Beam steering and lateral hole burning in mid‐infrared quantum‐ cascade lasers

Cited by 9 publications

References 10 publications

Intra-pulse beam steering in a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser

Intra-pulse beam steering in a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser

Transverse mode control in quantum cascade lasers via lossy lateral constrictions

Beam steering characteristics in high-power quantum-cascade lasers emitting at ∼ 4.6 μm*

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