Characterization and analysis of highly diagonal Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers

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Author(s)
Chan, Chun Wang Ivan
Advisor(s)
Qing Hu.
Date Issued
2010
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The as yet unattained milestone of room-temperature operation is essential for establishing Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers (THz QCLs) as practical sources of THz radiation. Temperature performance is hypothesized to be limited by upper laser level lifetime reduction due to non-radiative scattering, particularly by longitudinal optical phonons. To address this issue, this work studies highly "diagonal" QCLs, where the upper and lower laser level wave functions are spatially separated to preserve upper laser level lifetime, as well as several other issues relevant to high temperature performance. The highly diagonal devices of this work performed poorly, but the analysis herein nevertheless suggest that diagonality as a design strategy cannot yet be ruled out. Other causes of poor performance in the lasers are identified, and suggestions for future designs are made.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-157).
Subjects
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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