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Hot Electrons in THz Quantum Cascade Lasers

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Abstract

We compare the electrical power dependence of the lattice temperature and the electronic temperature of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs THz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) with different active region schemes, as extracted by the analysis of microprobe band-to-band photoluminescence experiments. Thermalized non-equilibrium distributions are found in all classes of QCLs. While in the case of bound-to-continuum structures all subbands share the same temperature, the upper laser level of active regions based on the resonant-phonon scheme heats up by ΔT ~ 100 K with respect to lower energy levels. The comparison among samples with different Al mole fractions show that the use of smaller x values leads to larger electronic temperatures.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Q. Hu, B. S. Williams, S. Kumar, J. Faist, G. Scalari, A. Tredicucci, S. Barbieri, C. Sirtori, H. E. Beere, D. A. Ritchie and J. L. Reno for providing QCL devices and useful discussions. M.S.V. acknowledges financial support of the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research (MIUR) through the program “FIRB-Futuro in Ricerca 2010" RBFR10LULP “Fundamental research on terahertz photonic devices". G. S. and V. S. acknowledge partial finantial support of MIUR through the programs PON01_02238, PON02_00576 and PON02_00675.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR-IFN and Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica, Università degli studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”, Via Amendola 173, 70126, Bari, Italy

    Gaetano Scamarcio

  2. CNR – Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Tecnologie della Materia, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125, Firenze, Italy

    Miriam Serena Vitiello

  3. NEST, Istituto Nanoscienze – CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127, Pisa, Italy

    Miriam Serena Vitiello

  4. CNR-IFN and Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica, Politecnico di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70126, Bari, Italy

    Vincenzo Spagnolo

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  1. Gaetano Scamarcio
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  3. Vincenzo Spagnolo
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Correspondence to Gaetano Scamarcio.

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Scamarcio, G., Vitiello, M.S. & Spagnolo, V. Hot Electrons in THz Quantum Cascade Lasers. J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves 34, 357–373 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-013-9979-1

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