Continuous-wave laser operation of a dipole antenna terahertz microresonator

Luca Masini; Alessandro Pitanti; Lorenzo Baldacci; Miriam S Vitiello; Riccardo Degl'Innocenti; Harvey E Beere; David A Ritchie; Alessandro Tredicucci

doi:10.1038/lsa.2017.54

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Continuous-wave laser operation of a dipole antenna terahertz microresonator

Original Articles

- Continuous-wave laser operation of a dipole antenna terahertz microresonator
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 6, Issue 4, (2017)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.NEST, CNR—Istituto Nanoscienze and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy
  2.Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
  3.NEST, CNR—Istituto Nanoscienze and Dipartimento di Fisica 'E. Fermi', Università degli studi di Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy
- Author bio：
  
  A Pitanti, Email: alessandro.pitanti@sns.it
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/lsa.2017.54
  CLC：
- Published：2017-12，
  
  Published Online：29 March 2017，
  
  Received：08 November 2016，
  
  Revised：24 March 2017，
  
  Accepted：26 March 2017
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Masini, L. et al. Continuous-wave laser operation of a dipole antenna terahertz microresonator. Light: Science & Applications, 6, e17054 (2017).
DOI：

Masini, L. et al. Continuous-wave laser operation of a dipole antenna terahertz microresonator. Light: Science & Applications, 6, e17054 (2017). DOI： 10.1038/lsa.2017.54.

摘要

Abstract

Resonators and the way they couple to external radiation rely on very different concepts if one considers devices belonging to the photonic and electronic worlds. The terahertz frequency range

however

provides intriguing possibilities for the development of hybrid technologies that merge ideas from both fields in novel functional designs. In this paper

we show that high-quality

subwavelength

whispering-gallery lasers can be combined to form a linear dipole antenna

which creates a very efficient

low-threshold laser emission in a collimated beam pattern. For this purpose

we employ a terahertz quantum-cascade active region patterned into two 19-μm-radius microdisks coupled by a suspended metallic bridge

which simultaneously acts as an inductive antenna and produces the dipole symmetry of the lasing mode. Continuous-wave vertical emission is demonstrated at approximately 3.5 THz in a very regu

lar

low-divergence (±10°) beam

with a high slope efficiency of at least 160 mW A

−1

and a mere 6 mA of threshold current

which is ensured by the ultra-small resonator size (V

RES

≈10

−2

). The extremely low power consumption and the superior beam brightness make this concept very promising for the development of miniaturized and portable THz sources to be used in the field for imaging and sensing applications as well as for exploring novel optomechanical intracavity effects.

关键词

Keywords

microresonatorsoptical antennasquantum cascade laserterahertzwhispering-gallery

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