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Terahertz LC Microcavities: From Quantum Cascade Lasers to Ultrastrong Light-Matter Coupling

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Abstract

We review research on the physics of intersubband transitions in the THz range in a sub wavelength microcavity environment. Laser action was achieved at 1.5 THz by inserting quantum cascade gain material between the capacitor plates of a new resonant LC cavity, achieving a normalized mode volume ratio of only \(V_{eff}/(\lambda /2n)^{3}=0.12\) of the cavity mode \(V_{eff}\) and the normalized optical volume \((\lambda /2n)^{3}\). By using the same cavity as the constituting meta-atom of a THz metamaterial, strong and ultra strong light matter coupling was observed up to room temperature. Finally, the same metamaterial coupled to parabolic semiconductor quantum wells was investigated in the regime of electrical in-plane pumping, showing THz emission in the ultra strong coupling regime.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Fabrizio Castellano and Laurent Nevou for contributions to the original work. This work was supported by Swiss National Science Foundation through Contract No. 200020–129823/1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang- Pauli-Strasse 16, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    Markus Geiser, Giacomo Scalari, Mattias Beck, Christoph Walther & Jérôme Faist

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  1. Markus Geiser
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  2. Giacomo Scalari
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  5. Jérôme Faist
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Correspondence to Markus Geiser.

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Geiser, M., Scalari, G., Beck, M. et al. Terahertz LC Microcavities: From Quantum Cascade Lasers to Ultrastrong Light-Matter Coupling. J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves 34, 393–404 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-013-9978-2

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