Fast terahertz imaging using a quantum cascade amplifier
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Authors
Ren, Y
Wallis, R
Jessop, DS
Klimont, A
Publication Date
2015-07-06Journal Title
Applied Physics Letters
ISSN
0003-6951
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Language
English
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Ren, Y., Wallis, R., Jessop, D., Degl'Innocenti, R., Klimont, A., Beere, H., & Ritchie, D. (2015). Fast terahertz imaging using a quantum cascade amplifier. Applied Physics Letters https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4926602
Abstract
A terahertz (THz) imaging scheme based on the effect of self-mixing in a 2.9 THz quantum cascade (QC) amplifier has been demonstrated. By coupling an antireflective-coated silicon lens to the facet of a QC laser, with no external optical feedback, the laser mirror losses are enhanced to fully suppress lasing action, creating a THz QC amplifier. The addition of reflection from an external target to the amplifier creates enough optical feedback to initiate lasing action and the resulting emission enhances photon-assisted transport, which in turn reduces the voltage across the device. At the peak gain point, the maximum photon density coupled back leads to a prominent self-mixing effect in the QC amplifier, leading to a high sensitivity, with a signal to noise ratio up to 55 dB, along with a fast data acquisition speed of 20,000 points per second.
Sponsorship
This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Funder references
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/J017671/1)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4926602
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/248872
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 UK: England & Wales
Licence URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/
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