arXiv subjects

Karl Unterrainer

Publications and source records attributed to Karl Unterrainer.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum cascade laser roadmap

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are unipolar semiconductor lasers first demonstrated in 1994. Since then, they have played a central role in advancing mid-infrared and terahertz photonics, becoming among the most reliable light sources in these regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Their importance is further reinforced by their ability to generate self-starting optical frequency combs, whose investigation is motivated both by fundamental physics and by a wide range of applications, including molecular spectroscopy and free-space optical communications. This Roadmap provides a unified overview of current advances and emerging directions in QCL research. The chapters are organized into three main sections: device design and technology; frequency combs and pulse formation; and applications of QCLs. Each chapter reviews the relevant background, summarizes the current state of the art, and identifies key challenges and future directions within its specific research area.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Flexible terahertz opto-electronic frequency comb light source tunable over 3.5 THz

We demonstrate a terahertz (THz) frequency comb that is flexible in terms of its frequency range and the number and spacing of comb lines. We use a combination of near-infrared laser diodes, phase modulation and opto-electronic frequency conversion. The THz comb lines are characterized to be < 10 MHz by resolving the pressure dependent collisional broadening of an ammonia molecule rotational mode.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Resonant Tunneling Diodes Strongly Coupled to the Cavity Field

We demonstrate Resonant Tunneling Diodes, embedded in double metal cavities, strongly coupled to the cavity field, while maintaining their electronic properties. We measure the polariton dispersion and find a relative vacuum Rabi splitting of 16%, which explicitly qualifies for the strong-coupling regime. Additionally we show that electronic transport has a significant influence on the polaritons by modulating the coupling strength. The merge between electronic transport and polaritonic physics in our devices opens up a new aspect of cavity quantum electro-dynamics and integrated photonics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

All-Optical Adaptive Control of Quantum Cascade Random Lasers

Spectral fingerprints of molecules are mostly accessible in the terahertz and mid-infrared ranges, such that efficient molecular-detection technologies rely on broadband coherent light sources at such frequencies. THz Quantum Cascade Lasers can achieve octave-spanning bandwidths. However, their tunability and wavelength selectivity is often constrained by the geometry of their cavity. The recently introduced Quantum Cascade Random Lasers represent alternative sources of THz light, in which random scattering provides the required field confinement. The random resonator geometry greatly relaxes wavelength selectivity, thus producing radiation that is both spectrally broadband and collimated in the far-field. Yet, the intrinsic randomness of these devices' spectral emission strongly restricts the scope of their potential applications. In this work, we demonstrate the all-optical adaptive control and tuning of Quantum Cascade Random Lasers. The specificity of our random-laser sources is exploited to locally modify the system's permittivity with a near-infrared (NIR) laser beam and thereby substantially reconfigure the distribution of disorder. Using a spatial light modulator combined with an optimization procedure, the NIR illumination is spatially modulated to reshape the spectral emission and transform the initially multimode laser into a single mode source, which could be harnessed to perform self-referenced spectroscopic measurements. Moreover, we show that local NIR perturbations can be used to sense linear and nonlinear interactions amongst modes in the near field. Our work points the way towards the design of broadly tunable THz sources with greatly relaxed fabrication constraints.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Analysis of silicon nitride partial Euler waveguide bends

In this work we present a detailed analysis of individual loss mechanisms in silicon nitride partial Euler bends at a wavelength of 850 nm. This structure optimizes the transmission through small radii optical waveguide bends. The partial Euler bend geometry balances losses arising from the transition from the straight to the bend waveguide mode, and radiative losses of the bend waveguide mode. Numerical analyses are presented for 45-degree bends commonly employed in S-bend configurations to create lateral offsets, as well as 90- and 180-degree bends. Additionally, 90-degree partial Euler bends were fabricated on a silicon nitride photonic platform to experimentally complement the theoretical findings. The optimized waveguide bends allow for a reduced effective radius without increasing the total bend loss and, thus, enable a higher component density in photonic integrated circuits.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Material Gain Concentration Quenching in Organic Dye-Doped Polymer Thin Films

The optimization of material gain in optically pumped dye-doped polymer thin films is an important task in the development of organic solid-state lasers. In this work, we present a theoretical model that accommodates the influence of concentration quenching on material gain and employ it to study the novel dye molecule 2-(4-(bis(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)amino)benzylidene)malononitrile (PMN) and the well-established dye molecule 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM) embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Polycarbonate was tested as an alternative host material for PMN. The material gain in these dye-doped polymer thin films was determined by the variable stripe length method. The inclusion of concentration quenching in the material gain expression is able to significantly reduce the overestimation of the gain efficiency inherent to a linear model.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Ultra-broadband quantum cascade laser operating from 1.88 to 3.82 THz

We report on a heterogeneous active region design for terahertz quantum cascade laser based frequency combs. Dynamic range, spectral bandwidth as well as output power have been significantly improved with respect to previous designs. When operating individually the lasers act as a frequency comb up to a spectral bandwidth of 1.1 THz, while in a dispersed regime a bandwidth up to 1.94 THz at a center frequency of 3 THz can be reached. A self-detected dual-comb setup has been used to verify the frequency comb nature of the lasers.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Spectrally resolved far-fields of terahertz quantum cascade lasers

We demonstrate a convenient and fast method to measure the spectrally resolved far-fields of multimode terahertz quantum cascade lasers by combining a microbolometer focal plane array with an FTIR spectrometer. Far-fields of fundamental TM0 and higher lateral order TM1 modes of multimode Fabry-Pérot type lasers have been distinguished, which very well fit to the results obtained by a 3D finite-element simulation. Furthermore, multimode random laser cavities have been investigated, analyzing the contribution of each single laser mode to the total far-field. The presented method is thus an important tool to gain in-depth knowledge of the emission properties of multimode laser cavities at terahertz frequencies, which become increasingly important for future sensing applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Random Lasers for Broadband Directional Emission

Broadband coherent light sources are becoming increasingly important for sensing and spectroscopic applications, especially in the mid-infrared and terahertz (THz) spectral regions, where the unique absorption characteristics of a whole host of molecules are located. The desire to miniaturize such light emitters has recently lead to spectacular advances with compact on-chip lasers that cover both of these spectral regions. The long wavelength and the small size of the sources result in a strongly diverging laser beam that is difficult to focus on the target that one aims to perform spectroscopy with. Here, we introduce an unconventional solution to this vexing problem relying on a random laser to produce coherent broadband THz radiation as well as an almost diffraction limited far-field emission profile. Our random lasers do not require any fine-tuning and thus constitute a promising example of practical device applications for random lasing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Short pulse generation and mode control of broadband terahertz quantum cascade lasers

We report on a waveguide engineering technique that enables the generation of a bandwidth up to 1 THz and record ultra-short pulse length of 2.5 ps in injection seeded terahertz quantum cascade lasers. The reported technique is able to control and fully suppress higher order lateral modes in broadband terahertz quantum cascade lasers by introducing side-absorbers to metal-metal waveguides. The side-absorbers consist of a top metalization set-back with respect to the laser ridge and an additional lossy metal layer. In continuous wave operation the side-absorbers lead to octave spanning laser emission, ranging from 1.63 to 3.37 THz, exhibiting a 725 GHz wide at top within a 10 dB intensity range as well as frequency comb operation with a bandwidth of 442 GHz. Numerical and experimental studies have been performed to optimize the impact of the side-absorbers on the emission properties and to determine the required increase of waveguide losses. Furthermore, these studies have led to a better understanding of the pulse formation dynamics of injection-seeded quantum cascade lasers.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Microcavity-integrated graphene photodetector

The monolithic integration of novel nanomaterials with mature and established technologies has considerably widened the scope and potential of nanophotonics. For example, the integration of single semiconductor quantum dots into photonic crystals has enabled highly efficient single-photon sources. Recently, there has also been an increasing interest in using graphene - a single atomic layer of carbon - for optoelectronic devices. However, being an inherently weak optical absorber (only 2.3 % absorption), graphene has to be incorporated into a high-performance optical resonator or waveguide to increase the absorption and take full advantage of its unique optical properties. Here, we demonstrate that by monolithically integrating graphene with a Fabry-Perot microcavity, the optical absorption is 26-fold enhanced, reaching values >60 %. We present a graphene-based microcavity photodetector with record responsivity of 21 mA/W. Our approach can be applied to a variety of other graphene devices, such as electro-absorption modulators, variable optical attenuators, or light emitters, and provides a new route to graphene photonics with the potential for applications in communications, security, sensing and spectroscopy.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Intrinsic response time of graphene photodetectors

Graphene-based photodetectors are promising new devices for high-speed optoelectronic applications. However, despite recent efforts, it is not clear what determines the ultimate speed limit of these devices. Here, we present measurements of the intrinsic response time of metal-graphene-metal photodetectors with monolayer graphene using an optical correlation technique with ultrashort laser pulses. We obtain a response time of 2.1 ps that is mainly given by the short lifetime of the photogenerated carriers. This time translates into a bandwidth of ~262 GHz. Moreover, we investigate the dependence of the response time on gate voltage and illumination laser power.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Electrically Switchable Photonic Molecule Laser

We have studied the coherent intercavity coupling of the evanescent fields of the whispering gallery modes of two terahertz quantum-cascade lasers implemented as microdisk cavities. The electrically pumped single-mode operating microcavities allow to electrically control the coherent mode coupling for proximity distances of the cavities up to 30-40 μ\m. The optical emission of the strongest coupled photonic molecule can be perfectly switched by the electrical modulation of only one of the coupled microdisks. The threshold characteristics of the strongest coupled photonic molecule demonstrates the linear dependence of the gain of a quantum-cascade laser on the applied electric field.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Phase resolved measurements of stimulated emission

The development of the semiconductor quantum cascade laser (QCL) [1] has enabled bright coherent sources operating at frequencies between the optical (>100 THz) and electronic (<0.5 THz) ranges opening this frequency region for fundamental science investigations [2-5] as well as for applications [6]. However, detailed information about the internal processes in QCLs and their ultrafast dynamics are needed for their further development towards high output power, longer wavelengths and stable pulsed operation. We introduce a novel approach to study the gain and dynamics of a terahertz (THz) QCL [7] using phase resolved measurements of the stimulated emission. This is enabled by direct recording of the emitted electric field with <100 fs time resolution. For the case of the THz QCL we demonstrate the validity of the quantum mechanical description of the laser. We show for the first time the real bandwidth of the terahertz gain medium, the current dependence of this gain, and the losses associated with the wave propagation in the laser waveguide.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗