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Physical Review A

Efficient amplification of mid- to far-infrared pulses due to optical pulse conversion in waveguiding quantum-well heterostructures

Vladimir A. Kukushkin

Published Aug 20, 2007• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

A method is suggested of efficient mid- to far-infrared (ir) pulse amplification via driving optical pulse energy conversion in waveguiding quantum well (QW) heterostructures at room temperature. It is based on the optical pulse creating transient population inversion at a long-wavelength transition in the three-level scheme formed by QW levels of dimensional quantization. As a result, efficient amplification of a weak mid- to far-ir pulse, propagating simultaneously with the driving one, becomes possible. A waveguide and QW heterostructure design that is optimal for optical-long-wavelength pulse conversion is proposed and shown to be much simpler than that used in quantum cascade lasers. For the typical input peak power of a picosecond driving pulse and mid- to far-ir pulse of $\ensuremath{\sim}100\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{W}$ and $100--0.1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mW}$, respectively, the present scheme is able to produce output ir pulses with peak powers of at least several tens of watts or several tens of milliwatts in the mid- or far-ir range, respectively, i.e., to convert an appreciable part of the optical pulse energy into the mid-ir signal.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.76.023817

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A method is suggested of efficient mid- to far-infrared (ir) pulse amplification via driving optical pulse energy conversion in waveguiding quantum well (QW) heterostructures at room temperature. It is based on the optical pulse creating transient population inversion at a long-wavelength transition in the three-level scheme formed by QW levels of dimensional quantization. As a result, efficient amplification of a weak mid- to far-ir pulse, propagating simultaneously with the driving one, becomes possible. A waveguide and QW heterostructure design that is optimal for optical-long-wavelength pulse conversion is proposed and shown to be much simpler than that used in quantum cascade lasers. For the typical input peak power of a picosecond driving pulse and mid- to far-ir pulse of \ensuremath∼100W\ensuremath{\sim}100\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{W}\ensuremath∼100W and 100−−0.1mW100--0.1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mW}100−−0.1mW, respectively, the present scheme is able to produce output ir pulses with peak powers of at least several tens of watts or several tens of milliwatts in the mid- or far-ir range, respectively, i.e., to convert an appreciable part of the optical pulse energy into the mid-ir signal.
A scheme for infrared generation without population inversion between subbands in quantum-well and quantum-dot lasers is presented. The scheme is based on the resonant nonlinear mixing of the optical laser fields on the two interband transitions that are generated in the same active region and that serve as the coherent drive for the infrared field. This mechanism for frequency down-conversion does not rely upon any ad hoc assumptions of long-lived coherences in the semiconductor active medium, and it should work efficiently at room temperature with injection current pumping. For optimized waveguide and cavity parameters, the intrinsic efficiency of the down-conversion process can reach the limiting quantum value corresponding to one infrared photon per one optical photon. Due to the parametric nature of infrared generation, the proposed inversionless scheme is especially promising for long-wavelength (far-infrared) operation.
A model of inversionless gain on a transition between quasi-discrete excited levels of a quantum system is proposed that minimizes the absorption of a coherent optical pump beam due to the finite lifetimes of the corresponding states. A quantum-dot system with transition frequency between quasi-discrete levels lying in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) range is used as an example to determine an optimal pump frequency at which the pump absorption rate is minimized and to calculate the gain for a mid-IR field. The proposed model system can be considered as a prototype for creating highly efficient mid- and far-IR quantum-dot amplifiers and lasers operating on transitions between quasi-discrete levels at room temperature.
We demonstrate compact optical wavelength conversion architecture for picosecond laser pulses and data streams within photonic band gap waveguides. These multimode waveguides are seeded with resonantly driven, inhomogeneously broadened, distributions of quantum dots whose optical transition center frequency is placed near a sharp discontinuity in the local (electromagnetic) density of states (LDOS). This discontinuity is provided by a cutoff in one of the waveguide modes. Wavelength conversion of an optical pulse propagating in the single-mode spectral range of the waveguide, near the LDOS jump, is provided by a steady-state holding field with frequency matched to the center frequency of the quantum dot distribution. In the absence of an incident laser pulse, the holding field is absorbed by the quantum dots. When the incident pulse intensity is sufficient to cause population inversion of a suitable fraction of the quantum dots, the holding field is amplified and the incident pulse profile is imprinted on to the holding field, leading to wavelength conversion in the range of 3--20 nm at wavelengths near $1.5\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\text{m}$. Larger wavelength shifts typically require higher power levels for operation (milliwatt scale) but enable conversion of shorter (picosecond) pulses. Small wavelength shifts typically require narrower distribution of quantum dot resonance frequencies. Using finite-difference time-domain simulations, we show that an optical pulse (Gaussian in time) can create another equivalent optical pulse with either higher or lower center frequency inside the photonic band gap of the structure. Optical pulses of a given center frequency can also be selectively amplified or absorbed depending on the coincident arrival of another laser pulse with different center frequency, enabling all-optical logic operations within a multiwavelength-channel optical circuit.
In this paper, we demonstrate a domain inversion crystal structure to study the cascaded three-wave mixing process in a two peak Stark-chirped rapid adiabatic passage. We have achieved efficient wavelength conversion, which can be performed in intuitive order and counterintuitive order. The requirement of crystal is reduced and the flexibility of structure design is improved. When the conversion wavelength is fixed, increasing the coupling coefficient between the two peaks can reduce the intensity of the intermediate wavelength while maintaining high conversion efficiency. Compared with the cascaded wavelength conversion process based on stimulated Raman rapid adiabatic passage, the two-peak modulated Stark-chirped rapid adiabatic passage has a larger convertible wavelength bandwidth. This scheme provides a theoretical basis for obtaining mid-infrared laser source via flexible crystal structure.
We propose a method to control the harmonic process by a mid-IR modulated polarization gating for the effective generation of an ultra-broadband supercontinuum in the neutral rare-gas media. Using a mid-IR polarization gating pulse modulated by a weaker 800-nm linearly polarized pulse, the ionization, acceleration and recombination steps in the harmonic process are simultaneously controlled, leading to the efficient generation of an ultra-broadband supercontinuum covered by the spectral range from ultraviolet to water window x ray under the low ionization rate. The right phase-matching technique is employed to macroscopically select the short quantum path of the supercontinuum, then isolated sub-100-as pulses with tunable wavelengths are directly obtained. This supercontinuum also supports the pulse duration far below one atomic unit of time.
In this paper, we demonstrate a domain inversion crystal structure to study the cascaded three-wave mixing process in a two peak Stark-chirped rapid adiabatic passage. We have achieved efficient wavelength conversion, which can be performed in intuitive order and counterintuitive order. The requirement of crystal is reduced and the flexibility of structure design is improved. When the conversion wavelength is fixed, increasing the coupling coefficient between the two peaks can reduce the intensity of the intermediate wavelength while maintaining high conversion efficiency. Compared with the cascaded wavelength conversion process based on stimulated Raman rapid adiabatic passage, the two-peak Stark-chirped rapid adiabatic passage has a larger convertible wavelength bandwidth. This scheme provides a theoretical basis for obtaining mid-infrared laser source via flexible crystal structure.