Abstract
In this work we theoretically investigate a possibility to use cubic nitride based multi-layer periodic nanostructure as a semiconductor metamaterial. The structure design is based on an active region of a quantum cascade laser optimized to achieve optical gain in the Terahertz (THz) spectral range. In particular, we test the GaN/AlGaN quantum well configurations, which should exhibit important advantages compared to GaAs-based structures, namely room temperature operation without the assistance of magnetic field and lower doping densities. Our numerical rate-equations model is solved self-consistently and it takes into account electron-longitudinal optical phonon scattering between all the relevant states among the adjacent periods of the structure. A global optimization routine, specifically genetic algorithm is then used to generate new gain-optimized structures. This work confirms the advantages of cubic GaN designs over GaAs ones, namely feasibility of negative refraction at room temperature without the assistance of magnetic field while keeping the doping densities of the same order of magnitude.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge support from COST ACTION MP1204 (TERA-MIR Radiation: Materials, Generation, Detection and Applications), COST ACTION MP1406 (MultiscaleSolar—Multiscale in modelling and validation for solar photovoltaics) and Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (Republic of Serbia), ev. no. III 45010, as well as UNSW for the use of high-performance computing facilities.
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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Focus on Optics and Bio-photonics, Photonica 2017.
Guest Edited by Jelena Radovanovic, Aleksandar Krmpot, Marina Lekic, Trevor Benson, Mauro Pereira, Marian Marciniak.
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Dubajić, M., Daničić, A., Vuković, N. et al. Optimization of cubic GaN/AlGaN quantum cascade structures for negative refraction in the THz spectral range. Opt Quant Electron 50, 373 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-018-1639-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-018-1639-1