Phonon-pumped terahertz gain in n-type GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices

Authors

Greg Sun, University of Massachusetts BostonFollow
Richard A. Soref, Air Force Research Laboratory, Hanscom Air Force BaseFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-28-2001

Abstract

Local population inversion and far-IR gain are proposed and theoretically analyzed for an unbiased n-doped GaAs/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As superlattice pumped solely by phonons. The lasing transition occurs at the Brillouin zone boundary of the superlattice wave vector k_zbetween the two conduction minibands CB1 and CB2 of the opposite curvature in k_zspace. The proposed waveguided structure is contacted above and below by heat sinks at 300 K and 77 K, respectively. Atop the superlattice, a heat buffer layer confines longitudinal optical phonons for enhanced optical-phonon pumping of CB1 electrons. A gain of 345 cm⁻¹ at 4.5 THz is predicted for a doping density of 2.8×10¹⁶ cm⁻³.

Comments

The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters, vol. 78, issue 22 (2001) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1376432.

Copyright 2001 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.

Recommended Citation

Sun, Greg and Soref, Richard A., "Phonon-pumped terahertz gain in n-type GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices" (2001). Physics Faculty Publications. 26.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/physics_faculty_pubs/26

Publisher

American Institute of Physics

Rights

Copyright 2001 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.