Mode-locked ultrashort pulses from an 8 m wavelength semiconductor laser
arXiv:2003.04127 · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19592-1
Abstract
Quantum cascade lasers (QCL) have revolutionized the generation of mid-infrared light. Yet, the ultrafast carrier transport in mid-infrared QCLs has so far constituted a seemingly insurmountable obstacle for the formation of ultrashort light pulses. Here, we demonstrate that careful quantum design of the gain medium and control over the intermode beat synchronization enable transform-limited picosecond pulses from QCL frequency combs. Both an interferometric radio-frequency technique and second-order autocorrelation shed light on the pulse dynamics and confirm that mode-locked operation is achieved from threshold to rollover current. Being electrically pumped and compact, mode-locked QCLs pave the way towards monolithically integrated non-linear photonics in the molecular fingerprint region beyond 6 m wavelength.
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Cited by in corpus (6)
- Dissipative Kerr solitons in semiconductor ring lasers
- Femtosecond pulses from a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser
- Unifying frequency combs in active and passive cavities: Temporal solitons in externally-driven ring lasers
- Mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs with a microstrip-like line waveguide geometry
- Engineering the spectral bandwidth of quantum cascade laser frequency combs
- Efficient computation of coherent multimode instabilities in lasers using a spectral approach