High brightness terahertz quantum cascade laser with near-diffraction-limited Gaussian beam

• Published in: Light, science & applications science & applications, 2024-08, Vol.13 (1), p.193-7
• Main Authors: Li, Rusong, Xu, Yunfei, Zhang, Shichen, Ma, Yu, Liu, Junhong, Zhou, Binru, Wang, Lijun, Zhuo, Ning, Liu, Junqi, Zhang, Jinchuan, Zhai, Shenqiang, Liu, Shuman, Liu, Fengqi, Lu, Quanyong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/624/1020/1092; 639/624/400/561; Brightness; Electrons; Laser radiation; Lasers; Microwaves; Optical and Electronic Materials; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; RF and Optical Engineering
• ISSN: 2047-7538; 2047-7538
• DOI: 10.1038/s41377-024-01567-2

High-power terahertz (THz) quantum cascade laser, as an emerging THz solid-state radiation source, is attracting attention for numerous applications including medicine, sensing, and communication. However, due to the sub-wavelength confinement of the waveguide structure, direct beam brightness upscaling with device area remains elusive due to several mode competition and external optical lens is normally used to enhance the THz beam brightness. Here, we propose a metallic THz photonic crystal resonator with a phase-engineered design for single mode surface emission over a broad area. The quantum cascade surface-emitting laser is capable of delivering an output peak power over 185 mW with a narrow beam divergence of 4.4° × 4.4° at 3.88 THz. A high beam brightness of 1.6 × 10 7  W sr −1 m −2 with near-diffraction-limited M 2 factors of 1.4 in both vertical and lateral directions is achieved from a large device area of 1.6 × 1.6 mm 2 without using any optical lenses. The adjustable phase shift between the lattices enables a stable and high-intensity surface emission over a broad device area, which makes it an ideal light extractor for large-scale THz emitters. Our research paves the way to high brightness solid-state THz lasers and facilitates new applications in standoff THz imaging, detection, and diagnosis. A high-brightness electrically pumped terahertz quantum cascade surface emitting laser empowered by a phase-engineered photonic crystal cavity.