Phase-locked Arrays Research Articles

Improvements in a 20-kW Phase-Locked Magnetron by Anode Voltage Ripple Suppression

Microwave devices based on high-power magnetrons are currently used widely and there is a strong demand for phase-controlled magnetrons. In this work, the performance of a 20-kW $S$ -band continuous-wave magnetron with varied anode voltage ripple is studied. The anode voltage ripple is introduced to an equivalent model of the magnetron to evaluate the system’s performance theoretically. The effects of the anode voltage ripple and the injection parameters on the magnetron’s output are thus analyzed numerically. Furthermore, experiments are performed while the anode voltage ripple is varied from 4.2% to 0.6% using a shunt capacitance-adjustable ripple filter module. A nearly tripled locking bandwidth is observed under a constant injection ratio at 0.1 with decreasing ripple. The ripple-suppressed system pulls its sideband energy to the locking frequency and thus achieves a spectral intensity increment of 0.9 dB, phase noise reduction of 13 dB at an offset of 100 kHz, and phase jitter convergence from ±1.8° to ±0.9°. The experimental features validate the results obtained from the theoretical analyses. The results of this investigation also provide guidance for future industrial applications of phase-locked magnetron arrays.

5.3 μm-Emitting Diffraction-Limited Leaky-Wave-Coupled Quantum Cascade Laser Phase-Locked Array

A three-element phase-locked array of ∼5.3 μm-emitting quantum cascade lasers fabricated by a two-step MOCVD process is demonstrated which operates in a diffraction-limited beam to 5.3 W peak pulsed power. To compensate for overetching at the array edges, the fabrication process was modified such that it resulted in array elements of equal width. Then the array operates in a pure in-phase array mode, in agreement with simulations based on the actual device dimensions, which indicate that resonant leaky-wave coupling occurs for this device's geometry. Measured uniform near-field intensity profiles confirm resonant coupling. Simulations indicate that chirping of the element widths would allow for modification of the near-field intensity profile to mitigate the effects of thermal lensing in continuous-wave operation.

Semiconductor Laser Quasi-Array with Phase-Locked Single-Mode Emitting Channels

The construction of a semiconductor laser with a stripe waveguide is proposed, the geometry of which can make it possible to obtain radiation similar to that of a phase-locked laser array. The requirements for the parameters of the laser quasi-array and the technological feasibility of the proposed approach are discussed.

Analysis of Mode Competition in Resonant Leaky-Wave Coupled Phase-Locked Arrays of Mid-IR Quantum Cascade Lasers

A numerical model is developed for a phase-locked array of quantum cascade lasers. The population density is derived from rate equations. The temperature distribution for stationary generation is produced by ohmic heating. It is shown that the results of above-threshold operation modeling by the semi-vectorial beam propagation method are in good agreement with the modal analysis provided by the vectorial-COMSOL solver supplemented with the Rigrod’s model estimations. The wall-plug efficiency and the limits of the single-mode lasing are found. Thermal lensing is shown to be the main reason limiting the single-spatial-mode power under CW-operating conditions.

High-power, continuous-wave, phase-locked quantum cascade laser arrays emitting at 8 µm.

We report a room-temperature eight-element phase-locked quantum cascade laser array emitting at 8 µm with a high continuous-wave power of 8.2 W and wall plug efficiency of 9.5%. The laser array operates primarily via the in-phase supermode and has single-mode emission with a side-mode suppression ratio of ~20 dB. The quantum cascade laser active region is based on a high differential gain (8.7 cm/kA) and low voltage defect (90 meV) design. A record high wall plug efficiency of 20.4% is achieved from a low loss buried ridge type single-element Fabry-Perot laser operating in pulsed mode at 20 °C.

A 32-Unit 240-GHz Heterodyne Receiver Array in 65-nm CMOS With Array-Wide Phase Locking

This paper reports a 32-unit phase-locked dense heterodyne receiver array at f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RF</sub> = 240 GHz. To synthesize a large receiving aperture without large sidelobe response, this chip has the following two features. The first feature is the small size of the heterodyne receiver unit, which is only λ(f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RF</sub> )/4 × λ(f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RF</sub> )/2. It allows for the integration of two interleaved 4 × 4 arrays within a 1.2 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> die area for concurrent steering of two independent beams. Such unit compactness is enabled by the multi-functionality of the receiver structure, which simultaneously accomplishes local oscillator (LO) generation, inter-unit LO synchronization, input wave coupling, and frequency downconversion. The second feature is the high scalability of the array, which is based on a strongly coupled 2-D LO network. Large array size is realizable simply by tiling more receiver units. With the upscaling of the array, our de-centralized design, contrary to its prior centralized counterparts, offers invariant conversion loss and lower LO phase noise. Meanwhile, the entire LO network is also locked to a 75-MHz reference, facilitating phase-coherent pairing with external sub-terahertz transmitters. A chip prototype using a bulk 65-nm CMOS technology is implemented, with a dc power of 980 mW. Phase locking of the 240-GHz LO is achieved among all 32 units, with a measured phase noise of -84 dBc/Hz (1-MHz offset). The measured sensitivity (BW = 1 kHz) of a single unit is 58 fW. Compared to previous square-law detector arrays of comparable scale and density, this chip provides phase-sensitive detection with ~4300× sensitivity improvement.

Propagation of a radial phase-locked partially coherent elegant Laguerre–Gaussian beam array in non-Kolmogorov medium

A model of a radial phase-locked partially coherent elegant Laguerre–Gaussian (PCELG) beam array has first been introduced in theory. The analytical propagation equation for the cross-spectral density function of a radial phase-locked PCELG beam array in non-Kolmogorov medium has been derived using the extended Huygens–Fresnel principle. The average intensity and spectral degree of coherence properties of a radial phase-locked PCELG beam array propagating in non-Kolmogorov medium have been studied in details using the numerical examples. One can find that the evolution properties of a radial phase-locked PCELG beam array propagating in non-Kolmogorov medium are affected by the initial beam parameters and the non-Kolmogorov medium, and the beam array propagating in non-Kolmogorov medium will evolve into a solid beam with Gaussian-like distribution in the far field.

Basic phase-locking, noise, and modulation properties of optically mutual-injected terahertz quantum cascade lasers.

The phase-locking, noise, and modulation properties of two face-to-face optically mutual-injected terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are analyzed theoretically. In the phase-locking range, the two THz QCLs are in stationary states working at the same frequency. Outside the phase-locking range, the amplitude and the instantaneous frequency of the optical field oscillate with time, and the power spectrum shows a series of discrete peaks. For strong mutual injection, the optical field of the THz QCL array also exhibits oscillatory behavior. Coherent collapse or chaotic behavior is not observed within the range of the parameters used in this simulation. The spontaneous emission noise of phase-locked THz QCLs is higher than that of THz QCLs at free-running operation, and mutual injection may introduce additional modulation peaks in the noise spectrum. The modulation response of the mutual-injected THz QCLs to an individual modulation is investigated. It is found that the modulation bandwidth and the phase difference are significantly dependent on the modulation parameters. These results are helpful for further understanding the nonlinear dynamic behaviors of THz QCLs under optical injection and provide theoretical support for the development of THz QCL phase-locked arrays.

Nineteen-element in-phase coherent vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser array with low side lobe intensity.

We apply the antenna coherence theory in order to evaluate characteristic behavior of phase-coherent VCSEL arrays. Large 19-element phase-locked VCSEL arrays with a near-diffraction-limited beam were firstly realized using proton implantation technology. The central lobe intensity is about four times that of side lobes in far-field patterns. The angular full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the far field lobes is only 1.42 degrees. A good matching between theory and experiment opens new perspectives for optimizing devices.

Полупроводниковая лазерная квазирешетка с фазированными одномодовыми каналами излучения

We have proposed a semiconductor laser design with a stripe waveguide, which geometry can make it possible to obtain radiation similar to that of a phase-locked laser array. The requirements for the laser quasi-array parameters and the technological feasibility of the proposed approach are discussed.

Controlling abruptly autofocusing vortex beams to mitigate crosstalk and vortex splitting in free-space optical communication.

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode crosstalk induced by atmospheric turbulence is a challenging phenomenon commonly occurring in OAM-based free-space optical (FSO) communication. Recent advances have facilitated new practicable methods using abruptly autofocusing light beams for weakening the turbulence effect on the FSO link. In this work, we show that a circular phase-locked Airy vortex beam array (AVBA) with sufficient elements has the inherent ability to form an abruptly autofocusing light beam carrying OAM, and its focusing properties can be controlled on demand by adjusting the topological charge values and locations of these vortices embedded in the array elements. The performance of a tailored Airy vortex beam array (TAVBA) through atmospheric turbulence is numerically studied. In a comparison with the ring Airy vortex beam (RAVB), the results indicate that TAVBA can be a superior light source for effectively reducing the intermodal crosstalk and vortex splitting, thus leading to improvement in the FSO system performance.

Response to “Comment on ‘Phase-locked array of quantum cascade lasers with an intracavity spatial filter’” [Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 256101 (2017)

Response to “Comment on ‘Phase-locked array of quantum cascade lasers with an intracavity spatial filter’” [Appl. Phys. Lett. <b>111</b>, 256101 (2017)

4.7 μm-Emitting Near-Resonant Leaky-Wave-Coupled Quantum Cascade Laser Phase-Locked Arrays

Five-element phase-locked arrays of 4.7 μ m-emitting quantum cascade lasers are demonstrated which operate either in a near-diffraction-limited (D.L.) beam to 3.6 W peak pulsed power or in a narrow beam (< 3.5 × D.L.) up to 6.1 W peak pulsed power. Devices are fabricated by a two-step MOCVD process and operate predominantly in an in-phase array mode, in agreement with design-simulation studies. Analysis based on the actual device dimensions indicate that near-resonant leaky-wave coupling occurs. Scaling to a larger number of array elements and optimization for resonant operation is expected to lead to further increases in output power while maintaining high beam quality.

Spectrally resolved modal characteristics of leaky-wave-coupled quantum cascade phase-locked laser arrays

The modal characteristics of nonresonant five-element phase-locked arrays of 4.7-μm emitting quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) have been studied using spectrally resolved near- and far-field measurements and correlated with results of device simulation. Devices are fabricated by a two-step metal-organic chemical vapor deposition process and operate predominantly in an in-phase array mode near threshold, although become multimode at higher drive levels. The wide spectral bandwidth of the QCL’s core region is found to be a factor in promoting multispatial-mode operation at high drive levels above threshold. An optimized resonant-array design is identified to allow sole in-phase array-mode operation to high drive levels above threshold, and indicates that for phase-locked laser arrays full spatial coherence to high output powers does not require full temporal coherence.

Phase-locked array of quantum cascade lasers with an intracavity spatial filter

We show a phase-locked array of quantum cascade lasers with an intracavity spatial filter based on the Talbot effect. All the laser arrays show in-phase operation from the threshold current to full power current with a near-diffraction-limited divergence angle. The maximum power is just about 5 times that of a single-ridge laser for an eleven-laser array device and 3 times for a seven-laser array device. The structure was analyzed by using the multi-slit Fraunhofer diffraction theory, showing very good agreement with the experimental results. Considering the great modal selection ability, simple fabricating process, and potential for achieving continuous wave operation, this phase-locked array may be a hopeful solution to obtain higher coherent power.

Proton implantation for electrical insulation of the InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice material used in 8–15 μm-emitting quantum cascade lasers

We demonstrate the conversion of lattice-matched InGaAs/InAlAs quantum-cascade-laser (QCL) active-region material into an effective current-blocking layer via proton implantation. A 35-period active region of an 8.4 μm-emitting QCL structure was implanted with a dose of 5 × 1014 cm−2 protons at 450 keV to produce a vacancy concentration of ∼1019 cm−3. At room temperature, the sheet resistance, extracted from the Hall measurements, increases by a factor of ∼240 with respect to that of an unimplanted material. Over the 160–320 K temperature range, the activation energy of the implanted-material Hall sheet-carrier density is 270 meV. The significant increase in room-temperature sheet resistance indicates that upon implantation deep carrier traps have been formed in the InAlAs layers of the superlattice. Fabricated mesas show effective current blocking, at voltages ≥10 V, up to at least 350 K. Thus, the implanted InGaAs/InAlAs superlattices are highly resistive to at least 350 K heat sink temperature. Such implanted material should prove useful for effective current confinement in 8–15 μm-emitting InP-based single-emitter QCL structures as well as in resonant leaky-wave coupled phase-locked arrays of QCLs.

Phase-locked array of quantum cascade lasers with an integrated Talbot cavity.

We show a phase-locked array of three quantum cascade lasers with an integrated Talbot cavity at one side of the laser array. The coupling scheme is called diffraction coupling. By controlling the length of Talbot to be a quarter of Talbot distance (Zt/4), in-phase mode operation can be selected. The in-phase operation shows great modal stability under different injection currents, from the threshold current to the full power current. The far-field radiation pattern of the in-phase operation contains three lobes, one central maximum lobe and two side lobes. The interval between adjacent lobes is about 10.5°. The output power is about 1.5 times that of a single-ridge laser. Further studies should be taken to achieve better beam performance and reduce optical losses brought by the integrated Talbot cavity.

Generalized Stokes parameters and polarization behavior of flat-topped array laser beam propagating through oceanic turbulence

In present paper, the analytical expression for the cross-spectral density of the phase-locked Partially Coherent Flat-Topped (PCFT) array beams propagating through oceanic turbulence based on the extended Huygens–Fresnel integral is derived. Then, the polarization behavior and generalized Stokes parameters of the phase-locked PCFT array beam propagating through oceanic turbulence using the cross-spectral density matrix elements have been achieved. In this paper, the case of the clearwater oceanic turbulence has been considered, i.e. it has been assumed that the light wave is not affected by suspended organic and inorganic impurities. Due to the above-mentioned reason and the turbulence importance, the impacts of oceanic turbulence have been scrutinized, while the effects of absorption and scattering have been ignored. The changes in the Stokes parameters, the fluctuation of Stokes parameters, and consequently the state of polarization (including the spectral degree of polarization, the orientation angle and the degree of ellipticity) of the phase-locked PCFT array beams for different turbulence conditions upon propagation have been investigated. The results may find possible applications in underwater communication.

Phase-locked laser arrays through global antenna mutual coupling

Phase locking of an array of lasers is a highly effective method in beam shaping because it increases the output power and reduces the lasing threshold. Here, we show a conceptually novel phase-locking mechanism based on ‘antenna mutual coupling’ in which laser elements interact through far-field radiations with definite phase relations. This allows a long-range global coupling among the array elements to achieve a robust phase locking in two-dimensional laser arrays. The scheme is ideal for lasers with a deep subwavelength confined cavity, such as nanolasers, whose divergent beam patterns could be used to achieve a strong coupling among the elements in the array. We demonstrated experimentally such a scheme based on subwavelength short-cavity surface-emitting lasers at terahertz frequencies. More than 37 laser elements that span over ∼8 λo were phase locked to each other, and delivered up to 6.5 mW (in a pulsed operation) single-mode radiation at ∼3 THz, with a maximum 450 mW A–1 slope efficiency and a near-diffraction-limited beam divergence. Two-dimensional arrays of short-cavity surface-emitting THz quantum cascade lasers are phase-locked to each other via mutual coupling. A directive beam on the order of 10° divergence and a maximum slope efficiency of 450 mW A−1 is achieved.

High-power phase-locked quantum cascade laser array emitting at λ ∼ 4.6 μm

A phase-locked quantum cascade laser (QCL) array consisting of one hundred elements that were integrated in parallel was achieved at λ ∼ 4.6 μm. The proposed Fraunhofer’s multiple slits diffraction model predicted and explained the far-field pattern of the phase-locked laser array. A single-lobed far-field pattern, attributed to the emission of an in-phase-like supermode, is obtained near the threshold (Ith). Even at 1.5 Ith, greater than 73.3% of the laser output power is concentrated in a low-divergence beam with an optical power of up to 40 W.