Electrically switching transverse modes in high power THz quantum cascade lasers

Direct nanoscale imaging of evolving electric field domains in quantum structures

The external performance of quantum optoelectronic devices is governed by the spatial profiles of electrons and potentials within the active regions of these devices. For example, in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), the electric field domain (EFD) hypothesis posits that the potential distribution might be simultaneously spatially nonuniform and temporally unstable. Unfortunately, there exists no prior means of probing the inner potential profile directly. Here we report the nanoscale measured electric potential distribution inside operating QCLs by using scanning voltage microscopy at a cryogenic temperature. We prove that, per the EFD hypothesis, the multi-quantum-well active region is indeed divided into multiple sections having distinctly different electric fields. The electric field across these serially-stacked quantum cascade modules does not continuously increase in proportion to gradual increases in the applied device bias, but rather hops between discrete values that are related to tunneling resonances. We also report the evolution of EFDs, finding that an incremental change in device bias leads to a hopping-style shift in the EFD boundary – the higher electric field domain expands at least one module each step at the expense of the lower field domain within the active region.

Self-synchronization of laser modes and multistability in quantum cascade lasers

We predict and confirm experimentally the regime of complete synchronization between lateral modes in a quantum cascade laser, when frequency combs belonging to different lateral modes merge into a single comb. The synchronization occurs through the transition from multistability to a single stable state and is accompanied by phase locking and beam steering effects.