Title :
Optically pumped submillimeter wave semiconductor lasers
Author :
Lau, Kei May ; Xu, Wei
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Massachusetts Univ., Amherst, MA, USA
fDate :
8/1/1992 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
An optically pumped multiple quantum well (MQW) submillimeter wave (SMMW) laser is proposed and designed. The laser can potentially generate significant power in the far-infrared regime. It is based on pumping of a series of InGaAs-GaAs quantum wells with a CO2 laser. The excited electrons created by the pumping process tunnel into the upper of two subband states in an AlGaAs-GaAs quantum well grown in series with the absorption wells, and thereby give rise to a population inversion between these two states which are tuned to the SMMW frequency desired. The authors present the key concepts of the new device and some designed device structures
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; optical pumping; population inversion; semiconductor junction lasers; submillimetre wave devices; CO2 laser; FIR; InGaAs-GaAs; MQW; absorption wells; device structures; electron tunnelling; excited electrons; far-infrared regime; optically pumped multiple quantum well; population inversion; pumping process; semiconductors; subband states; submillimeter wave semiconductor lasers; Electron optics; Laser excitation; Optical design; Optical pumping; Power generation; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Quantum well devices; Quantum well lasers; Semiconductor lasers;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
