Quantum cascade structure for mid-IR four-wave mixing

Abstract

The design and modeling of a quantum cascade optical amplifier (QCOA) using intra-cavity non-linear interactions to achieve wavelength conversion is proposed. The model is based on the nonlinear equation coupled with Maxwell wave equations for different emission modes. In the proposed structure, four wave mixing (FWM) output exhibits a peak as a function of pump and probe frequency if they are tuned to the energy levels of the QC structure subbands. Results demonstrate that the FWM output signal power significantly depends on how subbands are engineered and interact with optical pulses which propagate in multi layer medium. In addition, we show that by adjusting pump and probe signal frequencies, FWM output power can be tuned.