Coherent sampling of active mode-locked terahertz quantum cascade lasers and frequency synthesis

• DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2011.49
• Publication Date: 2011-04-24T18:39:51Z
• Authors: Stefano Barbieri; Marco Ravaro; Pierre Gellie; Giorgio Santarelli; Christophe Manquest; Carlo Sirtori; Suraj P. Khanna; Edmund H. Linfield; A. Giles Davies
• Keywords: Photomixing; Carrier-envelope phase; Quantum cascade laser; Mode-Locking

Researchers demonstrate a terahertz quantum cascade laser operating in a regime of active mode-locking by modulating its bias current with a radiofrequency synthesizer. This technique allows coherent sampling of the terahertz electric field as well as control over the laser's carrier–envelope phase shift.