Quantum Cascade Laser Structures Research Articles

Ultra-sensitive current bistability and light switching in a resonant tunneling superlattice transistor

Bistability in the current–voltage characteristics of semiconductor superlattices and quantum cascade laser structures has the potential for wide-ranging applications, particularly in sensing systems. However, the interdependency of applied bias and current injection in conventional two-terminal structures has led to complications in analysis and rendered the bistability phenomenon difficult to implement in practical applications. Here, we report a new kind of electronic bistability coupled to optical switching in a resonant tunneling bipolar superlattice transistor. This bistability manifests as sharp discontinuities in the collector current with extremely small variations of the applied voltage, which arise from unstable tunneling transmission across the hetero-barrier between the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the edge of the transistor base and the collector superlattice structure. The electronic transitions between high and low quantum mechanical transmissions are demonstrated to be caused by self-consistent variations of the internal electric field at the heterointerface between the 2DEG and the superlattice. They are also present in the base current of the three-terminal device and result in sharp switching of near-infrared spontaneous light emission output from an interband radiative recombination process with a peak emission wavelength of 1.58 μm. A comprehensive quantum mechanical theoretical model accounting for the self-consistent bistable tunneling transmission is in quantitative agreement with the experimental data. The measured peak transconductance sensitivity value of 6000 mS can be used in the highly sensitive detector and non-linear device applications.

Growth of InGaSb/AlInGaSb quantum cascade laser structures on GaSb substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

An InGaSb/AlInGaSb terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz-QCL) structure was grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on a GaSb substrate with introducing an InGaSb composition graded buffer layer. It was found that the occurrence of inverted pyramid-shaped defects with a size of several micrometers is related to oxygen. The lattice matching condition between InGaSb and AlInGaSb was investigated. We grew a 3 μm-thick In0.19Ga0.81Sb/Al0.19In0.16Ga0.65Sb THz-QCL active region with a threading dislocation density of ∼ 1 × 107 cm−2. The threading dislocation density remained nearly unchanged after a several-micrometer-thick QCL region. The density of defects of several micrometers in size was ∼ 6 × 103 cm−2.

Modeling with graded interfaces: Tool for understanding and designing record-high power and efficiency mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

Abstract By employing a graded-interfaces model based on a generalized formalism for interface-roughness (IFR) scattering that was modified for mid-infrared emitting quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), we have accurately reproduced the electro-optical characteristics of published record-performance 4.9 µm- and 8.3 µm-emitting QCLs. The IFR-scattering parameters at various interfaces were obtained from measured values and trends found via atom-probe tomography analysis of one of our 4.6 μm-emitting QCL structures with variable barrier heights. Those values and trends, when used for designing a graded-interface, 4.6 μm-emitting QCL, led to experimental device characteristics in very good agreement with calculated ones. We find that the published record-high performance values are mainly due to both injection from a prior-stage low-energy (active-region) state directly into the upper-laser (ul) level, thus at low field-strength values, as well as to strong photon-induced carrier transport. However, the normalized leakage-current density J leak /J is found to be quite high: 26–28 % and 23.3 %, respectively, mainly because of IFR-triggered shunt-type leakage through high-energy active-region states, in the presence of high average electron temperatures in the ul laser level and an energy state adjacent to it: 1060 K and 466 K for 4.9 µm- and 8.3 µm-emitting QCLs, respectively. Then, modeling with graded interfaces becomes a tool for designing devices of performances superior to the best reported to date, thus closing in on fundamental limits. The model is employed to design a graded-interface 8.1 µm-emitting QCL with suppressed carrier leakage via conduction-band engineering, which reaches a maximum front-facet wall-plug efficiency value of 22.2 %, significantly higher than the current record (17 %); thus, a value close to the fundamental front-facet, upper limit (i.e., 25 %) for ∼8 µm-emitting QCLs.

8.1 μ m-emitting InP-based quantum cascade laser grown on Si by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

This study presents the growth and characterization of an 8.1 μm-emitting, InGaAs/AlInAs/InP-based quantum cascade laser (QCL) formed on an InP-on-Si composite template by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). First, for the composite-template formation, a GaAs buffer layer was grown by solid-source molecular-beam epitaxy on a commercial (001) GaP/Si substrate, thus forming a GaAs/GaP/Si template. Next, an InP metamorphic buffer layer (MBL) structure was grown atop the GaAs/GaP/Si template by MOCVD, followed by the MOCVD growth of the full QCL structure. The top-surface morphology of the GaAs/GaP/Si template before and after the InP MBL growth was assessed via atomic force microscopy, over a 100 μm2 area, and no antiphase domains were found. The average threading dislocation density (TDD) for the GaAs/GaP/Si template was found to be ∼1 × 109 cm−2, with a slightly lower defect density of ∼7.9 × 108 cm−2 after the InP MBL growth. The lasing performance of the QCL structure grown on Si was compared to that of its counterpart grown on InP native substrate and found to be quite similar. That is, the threshold-current density of the QCL on Si, for deep-etched ridge-guide devices with uncoated facets, is somewhat lower than that for its counterpart on native InP substrate, 1.50 vs 1.92 kA/cm2, while the maximum output power per facet is 1.64 vs 1.47 W. These results further demonstrate the resilience of QCLs to relatively high residual TDD values.

M-plane GaN terahertz quantum cascade laser structure design and doping effect for resonant-phonon and phonon-scattering-injection schemes

Non-polar m-plane GaN terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz-QCL) structures have been studied. One is traditional three-well resonant-phonon (RP) design scheme. The other is two-well phonon scattering injection (PSI) design scheme. The peak gains of 41.8 and 44.2 cm−1 have been obtained at 8.2 and 7.7 THz respectively at 300 K according to the self-consistent non-equilibrium Green’s function calculation. Different from the usual GaAs two-well design, the upper and lower lasing levels are both ground states in the GaN quantum wells for the PSI scheme, mitigating the severe broadening effect for the excited states in GaN. To guide the fabrication of such devices, the doping effect on the peak gain has been analyzed. The two designs have demonstrated distinct doping density dependence and it is mainly attributed to the very different doping dependent broadening behaviors. The results reveal the possibility of GaN based THz-QCL lasing at room temperature.

Driving up the quality of metal organic chemical vapor deposition-grown epitaxial wafers for highly innovative photonic applications

Quantum cascade lasers (QCL) and extended InGaAs photodetectors (ex-PDs) (operating in regime 1.9–2.6 µm wavelength) are very attractive materials for use in sophisticated photonics and microelectronics such as optical recording, scanners, laser spectroscopy, thermal or gas sensing. Once a laboratory curiosity, QCLs and ex-PDs are now becoming commercially available products, shaping exciting applications. In this work, we present the intricacies and challenges of the development and industrial production of Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD)-grown QCL and ex-PD structures as well as demonstrate their viability for large-scale manufacturing.Different types of epitaxial structures were grown using a multi-wafer production MOCVD system, in 12 × 3″ wafer configuration per growth run. Structural and electrical properties of epitaxial layers were carefully examined.MOCVD growing of QCL and ex-PD structures is a very demanding process. MOCVD production reactor enables development of highly complicated chemical reactions, however, as gas residence is much longer than in small R&D systems, the hetero-interfaces of InGaAs/InAlAs are inevitably graded, which negatively impacts optical and electrical parameters of QCL devices. In addition, QCL structure requires the exact layer thickness as well as absolute precision and repeatability when developing strained InAlAs and InGaAs epi‑layers. In the case of ex-PDs fabrication, the crucial thing is to develop a specially designed and graded buffer layer, and to avoid numerous misfit defects and anomalies in dark current. We obtained high crystallographic quality and repeatability of the epi‑layers, which resulted in QCL high-performance continuous-wave operation and fabrication of ex-PDs with low dark current density (less than 1 × 10−4 A/cm2 at -100 mV/room temperature (RT)) achieving results consistent with Rule07 and higher quantum efficiency.

High peak power quantum cascade lasers monolithically integrated onto silicon with high yield and good near-term reliability

High peak power, room-temperature operation in the long wave infrared spectral region is reported for double-channel, ridge waveguide quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) monolithically integrated onto a silicon substrate. The 55-stage laser structure with an AlInAs/InGaAs core and InP cladding was grown by molecular beam epitaxy directly onto an 8-in. diameter germanium-coated silicon substrate template via a III–V alloy metamorphic buffer. Atomic force microscope imaging demonstrated a good quality surface for the full QCL structure grown on silicon, with improved roughness over wider areas compared to the previous work. Fabricated 3 mm × 26 μm lasers operate at room temperature, deliver more than 3 W of peak (6 mW of average) optical power, and show approximately 3% wall plug efficiency and 4.3 kA/cm2 threshold current density with emission wavelength centered at 11.5 μm. The lasers had a high yield with only around 15% max power deviation and no signs of performance degradation were observed over a 10 h burn in period at maximum power. Singled-lobed high quality output beam with M2 = 1.36 was measured for 3 mm × 22 μm devices, demonstrating that it is possible to produce high-brightness quantum cascade lasers on silicon with standard ridge waveguide processing paving the way for low-cost production of integrated mid-infrared platforms.

Effect of Si-doped and undoped inter-layer transition time on the strain-compensated InGaAs/InAlAs QCL active region grown with MOVPE

In this study, we report the effect of the combination of Si-doped and undoped inter-layer transition time in the strain compensated In0.67Ga0.33As/In0.36Al0.64As quantum cascade laser (QCL) structure grown on InP substrate by Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE). In situ reflectance spectroscopy and high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) technique have been used for the analysis of growth steps and crystalline quality of QCL structures, respectively. In addition, since thickness accuracy is very important for QCLs, two different thickness calculation methods have been used in the Global Fit simulation program for detailed thickness accuracy of structures. As a result, optimum values for thickness accuracy have been obtained as 5 and 10 s between undoped and Si-doped layers, respectively, as verified by the two methods.

High Power Mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Lasers Grown on Si

This article details the demonstration of a strain-balanced, InP-based mid-infrared quantum cascade laser structure that is grown directly on a Si substrate. This is facilitated by the creation of a metamorphic buffer layer that is used to convert from the lattice constant of Si (0.543 nm) to that of InP (0.587 nm). The laser geometry utilizes two top contacts in order to be compatible with future large-scale integration. Unlike previous reports, this device is capable of room temperature operation with up to 1.6 W of peak power. The emission wavelength at 293 K is 4.82 μm, and the device operates in the fundamental transverse mode.

Optimisation of QCL Structures Modelling by Polynomial Approximation.

Modelling of quantum cascade laser (QCL) structures, despite a regular progress in the field, still remains a complex task in both analytical and numerical aspects. Computer simulations of such nanodevices require large operating memories and effective algorithms to be applied. Promisingly, by applying semi-analytical polynomial approximation method to computing potential, wave functions and electron charge distribution, accurate results and quick convergence of the self-consistent solution for the Schrödinger and Poisson equations are reachable. Additionally, such an approach makes the respective numerical models competitively effective. For contemporary QCL structures, with quantum wells quite typically forming complex systems, a special approach to determining self energies and coefficients of approximating polynomials is required. Under this paper we have analysed whether the polynomial approximation method can be successfully applied to solving the Schrödinger equation in QCL. A new algorithm for determining self energies has been proposed and a new method has been optimised for the researched structures. The developed solutions have been implemented as a new module for the finite model of the superlattice (FMSL) and tested on the QCL emitting light in the mid-infrared range.

Resonant two-photon terahertz quantum cascade laser.

Lasers that can emit two photons from a single electron relaxation between two states of the same parity have been discussed since the early days of the laser era. However, such lasers have seen only limited success, mainly due to a lack of suitable gain medium. We propose that terahertz (THz) frequency quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are an ideal semiconductor structure to realize such two-photon emissions. In this work, we present a THz QCL heterostructure designed to emit two resonant photons from each electronic relaxation between two same-parity states in the active region. We present coupled Maxwell-Bloch equations that describe the dynamics of such a two-photon laser and find analytical solutions for the steady-state light intensity, the steady-state energy-resolved carrier densities, and the total threshold carrier density. Due to the two-photon emission from each excited state relaxation and an increased photon-driven carrier transport rate, our simulations predict a significant enhancement of light intensity in our designed resonant two-photon THz QCL when compared to an exemplar conventional THz QCL structure.

Theoretical Study of Quasi One-Well Terahertz Quantum Cascade Laser

Developing a high-temperature terahertz (THz) quantum cascade laser (QCL) has been one of the major challenges in the THz QCL field over recent decades. The maximum lasing temperature of THz QCLs has gradually been increased, arguably by shortening the length of repeating periods of the quantum structure in the device’s active region from 7 wells/14 layers to 2 wells/4 layers per period. The current highest operating temperature of 250 K was achieved in a two-well direct-phonon design. In this paper, we propose a potential and promising novel quantum design scheme named the quasi one-well (Q1W) design, in which each quantum cascade period consists of only three semiconductor layers. This design is the narrowest of all existing THz QCL structures to date. We explore a series of the Q1W designs using the non-equilibrium green function (NEGF) and rate-equation (RE) models. Both models show that the Q1W designs exhibit the potential to achieve sufficient optical gain with low-temperature sensitivity. Our simulation results suggest that this novel Q1W scheme may potentially lead to relatively less temperature-sensitive THz QCLs. The thickness of the Q1W scheme is less than 20 nm per period, which is the narrowest of the reported THz QCL schemes.

High Power Mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Lasers Grown on GaAs

The motivation behind this work is to show that InP-based intersubband lasers with high power can be realized on substrates with significant lattice mismatch. This is a primary concern for the integration of mid-infrared active optoelectronic devices on low-cost photonic platforms, such as Si. As evidence, an InP-based mid-infrared quantum cascade laser structure was grown on a GaAs substrate, which has a large (4%) lattice mismatch with respect to InP. Prior to laser core growth, a metamorphic buffer layer of InP was grown directly on a GaAs substrate to adjust the lattice constant. Wafer characterization data are given to establish general material characteristics. A simple fabrication procedure leads to lasers with high peak power (>14 W) at room temperature. These results are extremely promising for direct quantum cascade laser growth on Si substrates.

Analysis of interface roughness in strained InGaAs/AlInAs quantum cascade laser structures (λ ∼ 4.6 μm) by atom probe tomography

In this study, in-plane interface roughness (IFR) values are extracted via atomic probe tomography (APT) for a few key interfaces within a quantum cascade laser (QCL) active region composed of compressively-strained InGaAs quantum wells (QWs) and tensilely-strained AlInAs barriers. The structure was grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) at 605 °C, 100 rpm, 100 torr, with a 5 s interruption time between layers. The full-stage thickness measured via high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) is used to calibrate the reconstruction to within 5%. From the APT results, it is found that interfaces to two barriers of different tensile-strain value (i.e., of different Al concentration) have different RMS-roughness amplitude. Specifically, barriers of higher Al concentration have ~50% larger RMS-roughness amplitude, as the strain differential increases by a factor of 2.2. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental data showing that roughness parameters within a QCL active region are different for different interfaces within the same grown structure.

Substrate-emitting quantum cascade lasers with a distributed Bragg reflector and a spectrally detuned second-order outcoupler

Demonstration of substrate-emitting quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) with a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) used for wavelength selection and a second-order outcoupler spectrally detuned from the reflector is reported. A 40-stage QCL structure with the gain spectrum centered at 4.1 μm was processed into 20 μm-wide ridge-waveguide devices with a 4 mm-long gain section, a 0.5 mm-long first-order DBR section with 644 nm period, and a 1.5 mm-long second-order outcoupler with 1100 nm period. Etch depth and duty cycle were 900 nm and 45%, respectively, for both gratings. The three sections shared the same electrical contact and were, therefore, pumped at the same current density. A device with a high-reflection coated back facet and anti-reflection coated front facet and substrate side delivered a peak power of 0.6 W from the substrate into a single-lobed beam with ∼1° × 18° angular full width at half maximum (FWHM). Due to the spectral detuning, the beam was extracted from the device at an angle of ∼−34° relative to the growth direction. The measured spectrum had a FWHM of 3 cm−1, and its peak was centered at 4.07 μm, close to the design value of 4.10 μm. The detuning between the two gratings allows for independent optimization of grating profiles to significantly improve the overall laser performance, which will be the focus of future work.

Long wavelength (λ > 13 μm) quantum cascade laser based on diagonal transition and three-phonon-resonance design

An InP-based quantum cascade laser structure emitting at a wavelength of 13.6 μm is proposed and demonstrated. The active region is based on a diagonal transition and three-phonon-resonance design. A 5 mm long, 30 μm wide high-reflection coated device with a double channel ridge waveguide structure has shown a threshold current density of 3.0 kA/cm2, a dynamic range of 4.4 kA/cm2, a peak output power close to 1 W, and an average optical power up to 11.7 mW at 3% duty cycle, at 293 K. The laser shows a characteristic temperature T0 of 314 K and T1 of 336 K over a temperature range from 283 to 313 K.

Quantum Simulating the Electron Transport in Quantum Cascade Laser Structures

AbstractUltracold fermionic atoms are proposed to be used in 1D optical lattices to quantum simulate the electronic transport in quantum cascade laser (QCL) structures. The competition between the coherent tunneling among (and within) the wells and the dissipative decay at the basis of lasing is discussed. In order to validate the proposed simulation scheme, such competition is quantitatively addressed in a simplified 1D model. The existence of optimal relationships between the model parameters is shown, maximizing the particle current, the population inversion (or their product), and the stimulated emission rate. This substantiates the concept of emulating the QCL operation mechanisms in cold‐atom optical lattice simulators, laying the groundwork for addressing open questions, such as the impact of electron–electron scattering and the origin of transport‐induced noise, in the design of new‐generation QCLs.

Traveling Wave Effects in Microwave Quantum Photonics

Traveling wave effects are increasingly exploited in microwave and terahertz quantum devices to implement novel functionalities and obtain improved performance. A suitable quantum circuit modeling approach is discussed for Josephson and bulk-material kinetic inductance traveling-wave parametric amplifiers enabling broadband, quantum-limited amplification. As another example, a multi-domain simulation approach for novel terahertz quantum cascade laser structures exploiting microwave and optical co-propagation effects is presented.

High-efficiency, high-power mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers [Invited]: erratum

Errors have been found in subsection 3.2 (i.e., in page 1384) of our paper [Opt. Mater. Express 8, 1378 (2018) 10.1364/OME.8.001378] as far as the identification of the grown layers within one period, for the quantum cascade laser structure shown in Figure 1(a). The correct text is as follows.

Room temperature near-infrared electroluminescence of Si/CaF2 quantum cascade laser structures grown on an SOI substrate

Room temperature near-infrared electroluminescence (EL) from Si/CaF2 quantum cascade laser structures has been demonstrated. The structure was equipped with 25 periods of the active region comprised of Si/CaF2 multi quantum-wells and single-mode waveguide grown by molecular beam epitaxy-based technique on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. EL spectra with multiple peaks around the near-infrared region were obtained at room temperature and the EL intensity response with injection current clearly confirmed the EL emission was originated from the current injection. Moreover, it was found that EL peak shift by changing applied bias was reasonably explained by energy shift due to the electric field applied to the Si quantum-well of the active region.