Concept of internal mixing in semiconductor lasers and optical amplifiers for room-temperature generation of tunable continuous terahertz waves

We discuss the potential for creating a tunable continuous-wave source for the 1–5 THz frequency range based on nonlinear mixing in the active medium of a dual-color semiconductor laser or laser amplifier. Our analysis for the View the MathML source wavelength regime shows that intracavity mixing, after minimization of THz waveguide losses and optimization of the second-order nonlinearity of the active medium, should provide up to View the MathML source of THz power at an optical power of 100 mW per color.