Comparative analysis of resonant phonon THz quantum cascade lasers

We present a comparative analysis of a set of GaAs-based THz quantum cascade lasers, based on longitudinal-optical phonon scattering depopulation, by using an ensemble Monte Carlo simulation, including both carrier-carrier and carrier-phonon scattering. The simulation shows that the parasitic injection into the states below the upper laser level limits the injection efficiency and thus the device performance at the lasing threshold. Additional detrimental effects playing an important role are identified. The simulation results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental findings.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Thermal modeling of terahertz quantum-cascade lasers: comparison of optical waveguides

We compare a set of experimental lattice temperature profiles measured in a surface-emitting terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade laser (QCL) with the results of a 2-D anisotropic heat diffusion model. We evaluate the temperature dependence of the cross-plane thermal conductivity (kappaperp) of the active region which is known to be strongly anisotropic due to its superlattice-like nature. Knowledge of kappaperp and its temperature dependence is crucial in order to improve the temperature performance of THz QCLs and this has been used to investigate the longitudinal lattice temperature distribution of the active region and to compare the thermal properties of metal-metal and semi-insulating surface-plasmon THz optical waveguides using a 3-D anisotropic heat diffusion model

Gain and Loss in Quantum Cascade Lasers

We report gain calculations for a quantum cascade laser using a fully self-consistent quantum mechanical approach based on the theory of nonequilibrium Green functions. Both the absolute value of the gain as well as the spectral position at threshold are in excellent agreement with experimental findings for T=77 K. The gain strongly decreases with temperature.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures directly include

Raman properties of various carbonaceous materials and their astrophysical implications

It is well known that a large number of celestial objects exhibit, in the range 3 to 12 micron, a family of emission features called unidentified infrared bands (UIR). They usually appear together and are associated with UV sources. Recently various authors have suggested that these features could be attributed to solid carbonaceous materials. Following this interest, a systematic analysis was performed of various types of amorphous carbon grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), produced in lab. Updating results of Raman measurements performed on several carbonaceous materials, chosen according to their astrophysical interest, are presented. The measurements were made by means of a Jobin-Yvon monochromator HG2S and standard DC electronic. The line at 5145 A of an Ar+ laser was used as excitation source

Excitation energy dependence of electron-phonon interaction in ZnO nanoparticles

Raman spectroscopic investigations are carried out on ZnO nanoparticles for various photon energies. Intensities of E1-LO and E2 modes exhibit large changes as the excitation energy varied from 2.41 to 3.815 eV, signifying substantially large contribution of Frohlich interaction to the Raman polarizability as compared to deformation potential close to the resonance. Relative strength of these two mechanisms is estimated for the first time in nanoparticles and compared with those in the bulk.Comment: 13 pages. 3 figures Journa

Resonant hyper-Raman scattering in spherical quantum dots

A theoretical model of resonant hyper-Raman scattering by an ensemble of spherical semiconductor quantum dots has been developed. The electronic intermediate states are described as Wannier-Mott excitons in the framework of the envelope function approximation. The optical polar vibrational modes of the nanocrystallites (vibrons) and their interaction with the electronic system are analized with the help of a continuum model satisfying both the mechanical and electrostatic matching conditions at the interface. An explicit expression for the hyper-Raman scattering efficiency is derived, which is valid for incident two-photon energy close to the exciton resonances. The dipole selection rules for optical transitions and Fr\"ohlich-like exciton-lattice interaction are derived: It is shown that only exciton states with total angular momentum $L=0,1$ and vibrational modes with angular momentum $l_p=1$ contribute to the hyper-Raman scattering process. The associated exciton energies, wavefunctions, and vibron frequencies have been obtained for spherical CdSe zincblende-type nanocrystals, and the corresponding hyper-Raman scattering spectrum and resonance profile are calculated. Their dependence on the dot radius and the influence of the size distribution on them are also discussed.Comment: 12 pages REVTeX (two columns), 2 tables, 8 figure

Phonon confinement and substitutional disorder in Cd1-xZnxS Nanocrystals

1LO optical phonons in free-standing mixed Cd1-xZnxS nanocrystals, synthesized using chemical precipitation, are investigated using Raman spectroscopy. As expected for the nanocrystals, the 1-LO modes are found to appear at slightly lower wavenumbers than those in the bulk mixed crystals and exhibit one mode behavior. On the other hand, the line broadening is found to be much more than that can be accounted on the basis of phonon confinement. From the detailed line shape analysis it turns out that the substitutional disorder in the mixed crystals contributes much more to the line broadening than the phonon confinement. The linewidth arising from these mechanisms are also extracted from the analysis.Comment: 15 Pages,8 Figures, Accepted in J. Raman Spectroscop

Multi-phonon Raman scattering in semiconductor nanocrystals: importance of non-adiabatic transitions

Multi-phonon Raman scattering in semiconductor nanocrystals is treated taking into account both adiabatic and non-adiabatic phonon-assisted optical transitions. Because phonons of various symmetries are involved in scattering processes, there is a considerable enhancement of intensities of multi-phonon peaks in nanocrystal Raman spectra. Cases of strong and weak band mixing are considered in detail. In the first case, fundamental scattering takes place via internal electron-hole states and is participated by s- and d-phonons, while in the second case, when the intensity of the one-phonon Raman peak is strongly influenced by the interaction of an electron and of a hole with interface imperfections (e. g., with trapped charge), p-phonons are most active. Calculations of Raman scattering spectra for CdSe and PbS nanocrystals give a good quantitative agreement with recent experimental results.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], accepted for publication in Physical Review

Quantum-well-laser mirror degradation investigated by microprobe optical spectroscopy

A study of facet degradation of InGaAs quantum well lasers is reported. We tune up a Raman and photoluminescence micro-probe technique for determining the crystal structure and the temperature profile of the cladding layer, in steps of approximately 1 micrometer, with a temperature resolution better than 1 degree Kelvin. The cladding layer composition and cross- section temperature profile have been monitored during operation. A clear correlation between the facet degradation and the type of protective coating is found

Self-mixing in multi-transverse mode semiconductor lasers: model and potential application to multi-parametric sensing

A general model is proposed for a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) with medium aspect ratio whose field profile can be described by a limited set of Gauss-Laguerre modes. The model is adapted to self-mixing schemes by supposing that the output beam is reinjected into the laser cavity by an external target mirror. We show that the self-mixing interferometric signal exhibits features peculiar of the spatial distribution of the emitted field and the target-reflected field and we suggest an applicative scheme that could be exploited for experimental displacement measurements. In particular, regimes of transverse mode-locking are found, where we propose an operational scheme for a sensor that can be used to simultaneously measure independent components of the target displacement like target translations along the optical axis (longitudinal axis) and target rotations in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis (transverse plane). (C) 2012 Optical Society of Americ