Coherent injection locking of quantum cascade laser frequency combs

Abstract

Quantum cascade laser (QCL) frequency combs are a promising candidate for chemical sensing and biomedical diagnostics, requiring only milliseconds of acquisition time to record absorption spectra without any moving parts. They are electrically pumped and have a small footprint, making them an ideal platform for on-chip integration. Until now, optical feedback is fatal for frequency comb generation in QCLs and destroys intermodal coherence. This property imposes strict limits on the possible degree of integration. Here, we demonstrate coherent injection locking of the repetition frequency to a stabilized RF oscillator. For the first time, we prove that the spectrum of the injection locked QCL can be phase-locked, resulting in the generation of a frequency comb. We show that injection locking is not only a versatile tool for all-electrical frequency stabilization, but also mitigates the fatal effect of optical feedback on the frequency comb. A prototype self-detected dual-comb setup consisting only of an injection locked dual-comb chip, a lens and a mirror demonstrates the enormous potential for on-chip dual-comb spectroscopy. These results pave the way to miniaturized and all-solid-state mid-infrared spectrometers.

References in corpus (4)

• Cavity-enhanced dual-comb spectroscopy
• Coherent Frequency Combs produced by Self Frequency Modulation in Quantum Cascade Lasers
• Single-mode instability in standing-wave lasers: The quantum cascade laser as a self-pumped parametric oscillator
• On-chip Dual-comb based on Quantum Cascade Laser Frequency Combs

Cited by in corpus (29)

• Theory of frequency modulated combs in lasers with spatial hole burning, dispersion and Kerr
• In-phase and anti-phase synchronization in a laser frequency comb
• Fully phase-stabilized quantum cascade laser frequency comb
• Femtosecond pulses from a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser
• Broadband quantum-dot frequency-modulated comb laser
• Mode-locked ultrashort pulses from an 8 $\mu$m wavelength semiconductor laser
• Planarized THz quantum cascade lasers for broadband coherent photonics
• Self-starting Harmonic Comb Emission in THz Quantum Cascade Lasers
• Picosecond pulses from a mid-infrared interband cascade laser
• Monolithic Integration of Mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Lasers and Frequency Combs with Passive Waveguides
• Mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs with a microstrip-like line waveguide geometry
• Analytical theory of frequency-modulated combs: generalized mean-field theory, complex cavities, and harmonic states
• Engineering the spectral bandwidth of quantum cascade laser frequency combs
• Homogeneous quantum cascade lasers operating as Terahertz frequency combs over their entire operational regime
• Pulses from a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency comb using an external compressor
• Injection locking and parametric locking in a superconducting circuit
• Synchronization of frequency combs by optical injection
• Farey tree locking of terahertz semiconductor laser frequency combs
• Real-time multimode dynamics of terahertz quantum cascade lasers via intracavity self-detection: observation of self mode-locked population pulsations
• Mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs based on multi-section waveguides
• Integrated and DC-powered superconducting microcomb
• Battery-operated mid-infrared diode laser frequency combs
• Improved comb and dual-comb operation of terahertz quantum cascade lasers utilizing a symmetric thermal dissipation
• Coherence analysis of tightly locked mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs
• Quantum Cascade Lasers as Broadband Sources via Strong RF Modulation
• Coherent Control of Mid-Infrared Frequency Comb by Optical Injection of Near-Infrared Light
• Continuously tunable coherent pulse generation in semiconductor lasers
• Non-resonant Optical Injection Locking in Quantum Cascade Laser Frequency Combs
• Injection locking of GHz-frequency surface acoustic wave phononic crystal oscillator