Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Mid-infrared light'

Electrical and optical properties of bulk and quantum-well (QW) InSb/AlˣIn₁-ˣSb midinfrared light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been investigated as a function of temperature and injection current. Measured current-voltage characteristics are rectifying across all temperatures and aluminium compositions for each of the devices. For the QWLEDs, experimentally measured emission spectra are compared to the theoretical equivalent, enabling individual optical transitions in the QW to be attributed to observable features.

This thesis describes how for the first time, unidirectional operation and coupled ring tuning were realised on a quantum cascade laser material; specifically on a new strain compensated In0.7Ga0.3As/AlAs0.6Sb0.4 grown on InP substrate and operates in pulsed mode in the 3-4 micron hydrocarbon absorption region. Unidirectional ring lasers have the advantages that, in the favoured emission direction, they can have up to double the quantum efficiency of bidirectional lasers and do not suffer from spatial hole burning. In this work, this operation was realised by incorporating an "S"-crossover waveguide into the ring cavity in a manner that it introduces non reciprocal loss and gain in the counter-clockwise (CCW) and clockwise (CW) directions respectively. The measured result showed higher quantum efficiency in the CW. In fact at 1.5 times the threshold current, 90 % of the light was emitted in the favoured CW. On the other hand, the coupled ring quantum cascade laser showed nearly single mode operation, with side mode suppression ratio ~22 dB. Continuous wavelength tuning of about 13 nm was observed from one of these devices, at a tuning rate of approximately 0.4 nm/mA.

This work studied the replacement of incandescent airfield lighting systems with light emitting diodes. The focus was on the replacement of the infrared component of the incandescent spectra. A series of LEDs with a variety of nanostructures in different material systems were produced and tested to determine their suitability in replacing incandescent airfield lighting systems. Utilising quantum dashes in the active region, a surface emitting LED achieved an output power of 1.2mW at 1.97 um. This device had a wall-plug efficiency of 0.7%, an efficiency greater than that obtained in comparable commercially available surface emitting devices. The output power of this device was limited by the connement of electrons within the quantum dashes at room temperature. Another device characterised in this study was an LED with sub-monolayer InSb/GaSb quantum dots in the active region. The sub-monolayer InSb quantum dots were grown at Lancaster on GaSb substrates using molecular beam epitaxy and fabricated into surface emitting LEDs. These were investigated using x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and electroluminescence. This is the first reported electroluminescence from such devices. Emission was measured at temperatures up to 250 K. Room temperature emission was from the quantum wells in which the quantum dots where grown, output power was 80 uW at a wavelength of 1.66 um. Further devices with InSb sub-monolayer insertions were fabricated into edge emitting diodes. These samples were grown on GaAs using interfacial misfit arrays, defect densities were reduced through the use of defect filtering layers. The threading dislocation density decreased by a factor of 6 from 2.5x10^9/cm^2 to 4x10^8/cm^2 between the bottom and top of the defect filtering layer. The edge emitting devices achieved lasing up to 200 K with a characteristic temperature of 150 K. These devices were limited by Shockley-Read-Hall recombination and weak confinement of carriers within the InSb regions. The inclusion of AlGaSb barriers improved room temperature operation with output power increasing from 2 uW to 42 uW. In addition, increased confinement also resulted in a decrease in peak wavelength from 2.01um to 1.81um. GaInSb quantum well samples were produced on GaAs substrates utilising an interfacial misfit array. This included the first reported instances of ternary inter-facial misfit array interfaces with threading dislocation densities of < 2 x 10^9/cm^2 for an AlGaSb/GaAs interface and 5 x 10^10/cm^2 for an InAlSb/GaAs interface. By utilising an AlGaSb interfacial misfit array it was possible to improve the confinement of carriers within the GaInSb quantum wells, resulting in a twenty fold increase in room temperature photoluminescence intensity.

The 3-5 μm mid-infrared spectral region is of great interest as it contains the fundamental molecular fingerprints of a number of pollutants and toxic gases, which require remote real-time monitoring in a variety of applications. Consequently, the development of efficient optoelectronic devices operating in this wavelength range is a very fascinating and pertinent research. In recent years, there has been a rapid development of optical technologies for the detection of carbon dioxide (CO2), where the detected optical intensity at the specific gas absorption wavelength of 4.26 μm is a direct indication of the gas concentration, the main applications being in indoor air quality control and ventilation systems. The replacement of conventional infrared thermal components with high performance semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodiodes in the 3-5 μm range allows to obtain sensors with similar sensitivity, but with an intrinsic wavelength selectivity, reduced power consumption and faster response. Gas Sensing Solutions Ltd. has developed a commercial CO2 optical gas sensor equipped with an AlInSb-based LED and photodiode pair, which has demonstrated a significant reduction in the energy consumption per measurement. The aim of this Ph.D. project, supported by an EPSRC Industrial CASE Studentship, was to improve the performance of mid-infrared AlInSb LEDs. This was achieved through the optimisation of the layer structure and the device design, and the application of different techniques to overcome the poor extraction efficiency (~ 1 %) which limits the LED performance, as a consequence of total-internal reflection and Fresnel reflection. A key understanding was gained on the electrical and optical properties of AlInSb LEDs through the characterisation of the epi-grown material and the fabrication of prototype devices. Improved LED performance, with a lower series resistance and stronger light emission, was achieved thanks to the analysis of a number of LED design parameters, including the doping concentration of the contact layers, the LED lateral dimensions and the electrode contact geometry. A Resonant-Cavity LED structure was designed, with the integration of an epitaxially-grown distributed Bragg reflector between the substrate and the LED active region. The advantage of this design is twofold, as it both redirects the light emitted towards the substrate in the direction of the top LED surface and adds a resonant effect to the structure, resulting in a three-times higher extraction efficiency at the target wavelength of 4.26 μm, spectral narrowing and improved temperature stability. Finally, 2D-periodic metallic hole array patterns were integrated on AlInSb LEDs, showing potential advantages for spectral filtering and enhanced extraction of light emitted above the critical angle.

Les polaritons inter-sous-bandes, observés pour la première fois il y a une quinzaine d’années, sont des quasi-particules dont de nombreuses propriétés restent encore à découvrir. La recherche dans ce domaine se focalise actuellement sur la réalisation de condensats de Bose-Einstein. Une telle découverte pourrait révolutionner l’optoélectronique du moyen infra-rouge jusqu’au THz ouvrant la voie à l’instauration de nouveaux concepts de sources lumineuses,de détecteurs ou de systèmes logiques en couplage fort. Dans cette quête, le choix de la cavité résonnante est critique. Dans ce manuscrit nous proposons d’utiliser des cavités métal-isolant-métal (M-I-M) avec un réseau dispersif sur le métal supérieur. Ce type de cavité,conservant un confinement élevé entre les deux plans métalliques, offre de nombreuses possibilités d’ajustement de la résonance de cavité : via la géométrie de la cavité ( épaisseur de la cavité, période et recouvrement du réseau) ainsi que par le couplage de la lumière avec la cavité (vecteur d’onde incident). Les cavités M-I-M dispersives ouvrent donc un nouveau champ d’exploration des polaritons inter-sous-bande. Dans un premier temps nous avons introduit ces cavités dans le domaine du THz afin d’étudier les phénomènes de relaxation polariton-polariton. Un système expérimental dédié à cette exploration a été conçu pour mesurer la réflectivité des polaritons THz avec une fine résolution en angle. Dans une second temps, des capteurs moyen infrarouge en couplage fort avec une cavité M-I-M dispersive ont été conçus, fabriqués et mesurés dans le but d’explorer la génération de photo-courant à partir de polaritons et d’utiliser le couplage fort pour dissocier l’ énergie de détection de l’énergie d’activation. Cette seconde étude s’inscrit dans l’objectif de pompage électrique des polaritons ISB. Parallèlement à l’étude des polaritons, nous avons également participé au développement de techniques(interféromètre Gires-Tournois et revêtement anti-réflection) pour compresser les impulsions optiques de lasers à cascade quantique THz
After fifteen years of intersubband polaritons development some of the peculiar properties of these quasi-particles are still unexplored. A deeper comprehension of the polaritons is needed to access their fundamental properties and assess their applicative potential as efficient emitters or detectors in the mid-infrared and THz.In this manuscript we used Metal-Insulator-Metal (MI-M) cavities with a top metal periodic grating as a platform to deepen the understanding of ISB polaritons.The advantages of M-I-M are twofold : first they confine the TM00 mode, second the dispersion of the cavity -over a large set of in-plane wave-vectors- offers various experimental configurations to observe the polaritons in both reflection and photo-current. We reexamined the properties of ISB polaritons in the mid-infrared and in the THz using these resonators. In the first part, we explore the implementation of dispersive M-I-M cavities with THz intersubband transitions. In the THz domain, the scattering mechanisms of the THz ISB polaritons need to be understood. The dispersive cavity is a major asset to study these mechanisms because it provides more degrees of freedom to the system. For this purpose, we fabricated a new experimental set-up to measure the polariton dispersion at liquid Helium temperature. After the characterization of the polaritons in reflectivity, a pump-probe experiment was performed on the polaritonic devices. The second part of this manuscript presents the implementation of M-I-M dispersive cavities with abound-to-quasi-bound quantum well infrared photo detector designed to detect in strong coupling. Beyond electrical probing of the polaritons, the strong coupling can disentangle the frequency of detection from the thermal activation energy and reduce the dark current at a given frequency. In parallel to the exploration of THz polaritons, we developed two techniques (Gires-Tournois Interferometer and Anti-reflection coating) in order to shorten the pulses of THz quantum cascade lasers with metal-metal waveguides

High brightness light emitting diodes based on the InAs/GaSb superlattice material system have been developed for use in mid-wave and long-wave infrared optoelectronic systems. By employing a multiple active region device configuration, high optical output has been demonstrated from devices in the 3-5μm and 7-12μm spectral bands. Mid-wave infrared optical output in excess of 0.95mW/sr has been observed from 120×120μm2 devices with peak emission at 3.8μm, and nearly 160μW/sr has been measured from devices of the same size operating at 8μm. Larger devices (1×1mm^2) with output as high as 8.5mW/sr and 1.6mW/sr have been demonstrated with mid-wave and long-wave devices, respectively, under quasi-DC bias conditions. The high switching speed inherent to small area light emitting diodes as well as potentially high optical output make these devices appealing candidates to improve upon the current state-of-the-art in infrared projection technology. Simulation of thermal scenes with wide dynamic range and high frame rates is desirable for calibration of infrared detection systems. Suitable projectors eliminate the need for observation of a live scene for detector calibration, thereby reducing costs and increasing safety. Current technology supports apparent temperature generation of up to approximately 800 Kelvin with frame rates of hundreds of frames per second; strong desire exists to break these barriers. Meeting the requirements of the aforementioned application requires development of the InAs/GaSb superlattice material system on multiple levels. Suppressing parasitic recombination channels via band structure engineering, improving carrier transport between active regions and confinement within active regions, reduction of defect-assisted recombination by optimizing device growth, and improving device fabrication and packaging are all routes requiring exploration. This work focuses on the latter two components of the optimization process, with emphasis on molecular beam epitaxial growth of high quality devices. Particular attention was paid to tailoring devices for thermal imaging applications and the design tradeoffs and limitations which impact that technology. Device performance and optimization success were gauged by electronic, optical, morphological, and structural characterization.

Quantum computation holds the promise of efficient solutions to currently formidable problems. A prospective technology is that of computing using quantum states, which may dramatically speed up or otherwise reduce the complexity for the solution of some hard problems. Of the many different schemes proposed, shallow substitutional donors in Silicon hold great attractiveness for the detailed study of the medium, high industrial capacity, and ubiquity of raw materials. We develop control over the quantum orbital and spin states of bound electrons using the THz ultrafast laser FELIX. Manipulation of orbital states is studied using interferometric methods to produce Ramsey fringes, read out using optical and electrical methods. Contactless electrical measurement of free charge carriers is implemented, and the details of its advantages and limitations are explored. Both types of readout are used to demonstrate a coherent 3-level orbital manipulation, otherwise known as a quantum beat. The work constitutes a nontrivial control over the spatial distribution of the wavefunction of the atom which may enable error correcting surface code implementations. Spin dynamics are then explored in the presence of FELIX using donor-bound exciton techniques, which allow a sensitive and fast control over the electron spin states. The implementation is used to probe whether orbital excitation has a strong effect upon the spin states of the donor electrons, and it is shown that any modification of the spin is negligible. Experimental measurements of optically gated spin-exchange coupling are enabled by this methodology, and a roadmap to future implementation is discussed in the context of the present work. Overall, the work advances the state of spin and orbital control of neutral donor states for the purposes of optically gated quantum computing. Combined spin and orbital manipulations are now possible in the system, which will allow a more advanced implementation of quantum computation using orbital states than was previously possible.

High-power, continuous-wave (cw), mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser sources are of interest for variety of applications such as trace gas detection and remote sensing, which require broad spectral coverage to address the most prominent absorption features of a wide range of molecular species particularly in the mid-IR fingerprint region. On the other hand, surgical applications require high energy sources with unique pulse structure at specific wavelength in the mid-IR ranging from 6-6.5 m. Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) offer potential sources for all the above applications. The output wavelengths of a singly-resonant oscillator (SRO) can be coarsely tuned over wide ranges through the adjustment of the nonlinear crystal temperature, phase-matching angle or, in the case of quasi-phase-matched (QPM) the first time. The high-energy CSP OPO marked the first demonstration of a compact, high-repetition-rate OPO synchronously pumped by a master oscillator power amplifier system at 1064 nm, generating an milli-joule pulses in the 6-6.5 m spectral range, which is technologically important for surgical applications. Additionally, we also demonstrated a fiber-based-green source at 532 nm, based on single-pass second harmonic generation (SHG) in MgO:sPPLT, as an alternative pump source for Ti:sapphire laser, pointing towards the future, compact fiber-laser pumped Ti:sapphire lasers. Further efforts to improve the SHG efficiency led to the development of a novel multi-crystal scheme, enabling single-pass SHG efficiency as high as 56%. This generic technique is simple and can be implemented at any wavelength. materials, the QPM grating period. The combination of SRO with a tunable pump laser allows the development of uniquely flexible and rapidly tunable class of mid-IR sources. In this thesis we have demonstrated several mid-IR OPOs in the cw as well as ultrafast picosecond regime pumped by fiber-lasers making them compact and robust. In the cw regime, we developed a high-power, Yb-fiber-laser pumped mid-IR OPO based on MgO:PPLN spanning 1506-1945 nm in the near-IR and 2304-3615 nm wavelength range in the mid-IR, efficiently addressing the thermal effects by implementing the optimum signal output coupling. Novel materials such a MgO:sPPLT, with better optical and thermal properties for cw mid-IR generation are explored. High-power broadband, cw mid-IR generation is also demonstrated by using the extended phase-matching properties of MgO:PPLN. Further, we also demonstrated a simple, inexpensive and novel interferometric technique for absolute optimization of output power from a ring optical oscillator. We deployed a picosecond Yb-fiber-laser pumped mid-IR OPO based on MgO:PPLN in ring cavity configuration to demonstrate this proof-of-principle experiment for
Fuentes coherentes de luz continua y de alta potencia en el infrarrojo-medio (mid-IR) son de gran interés por su aplicación en la detección de gases, detección remota y la observación de imágenes. Estas aplicaciones requieren un ancho de banda amplio para evidenciar las características que ofrece la absorción de una gran variedad de especies moleculares, particularmente en la región “finger print” del mid-IR. Por otra parte, fuentes altamente energéticas con pulsos que posean estructuras peculiares en rangos específicos de longitud de onda en el mid-IR, entre 6-6.5 m. , prometen características únicas para nuevas aplicaciones en cirugía. Osciladores ópticos paramétricos (OPOs) constituyen fuentes de luz versátiles y apropiadas para todas las aplicaciones mencionadas anteriormente. La longitud de En el régimen ultrarápido, hemos demostrado una nueva técnica de interferometría para la optimización absoluta de la potencia de salida de un oscilador óptico con una cavidad de anillo. Como demostración de principio, implementamos, por primera vez, un OPO de picosegundos en el mid-IR basado en MgO:PPLN con una cavidad de anillo bombeado por un láser de fibra de Yb. Además, hemos desarrollado un nuevo OPO de alta energía en el mid-IR basado en el material nolineal CSP. Esto representa la primera demostración de un OPO compacto de alta repetición sincrónicamente bombeado por un láser de estado sólido a 1064 nm generando pulsos de milijulios en el rango espectral 6-6.5 m. Esta radiación es importante para aplicaciones en cirugía. Adicionalmente, hemos demostrado una fuente verde, 532 nm, basada en láseres de fibra. Esta radiación se obtiene por medio de la generación de segundo harmónico (SHG) en un paso individual en MgO:sPPLT. Esto representa una nueva alternativa de bombeo para los láseres de Ti:sapphire que los harán compactos en el futuro. Los esfuerzos para mejorar la eficiencia de segundo harmónico resultaron en el desarrollo de un novedoso esquema que utiliza múltiples cristales y permite eficiencias de SHG de paso individual del 56%. Este esquema es general y simple y puede ser implementado para cualquier longitud de onda. onda de un OPO puede ser sintonizada en regiones amplias del espectro cambiando la temperatura del cristal no-lineal, el ángulo de ajuste de fase o, al considerar materiales cuasi ajuste de fase (QPM), cambiando el periodo de red. En esta tesis, hemos demostrado una gran variedad de OPOs en el mid-IR en régimen continuo y de pulsos de picosegundo. Estos OPOs han sido bombeados por láseres de fibra permitiendo un diseño compacto y resistente. En el régimen de emisión continua, hemos implementado un OPO de alta potencia basado en MgO:PPLN bombeado por un láser de fibra. Este OPO es sintonízable en el rango 1506-1945 nm correspondiente al infrarrojo-cercano y en el rango 2304-3615 nm correspondiente al mid-IR. Esta capacidad de sintonización se logra al sobrepasar eficientemente los efectos térmicos optimizando el acoplamiento de salida. Materiales nuevos como el MgO:sPPLT, con propiedades ópticas y térmicas mejoradas para la generación de radiación continua en el mid-IR han sido estudiados. Utilizando las propiedades ajuste de la fase extendió del MgO:sPPLT, fuentes continuas de alta potencia con un gran ancho de banda en el infrarrojo-medio también han sido implementadas.

Optoelectronic devices operating in the mid-wave (3-5 Μm) and long-wave (8-12 Μm) infrared (IR) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum are of a great interest for academic and industrial applications. Due to the lack of atmospheric absorption, devices operating within these spectral bands are particularly useful for spectroscopy, imaging, and dynamic scene projection. Advanced IR imaging systems have created an intense need for laboratory-based infrared scene projector (IRSP) systems which can be used for accurate simulation of real-world phenomena occurring in the IR. These IRSP systems allow for reliable, reproducible, safe, and cost-effective calibration of IR detector arrays. The current state-of-the-art technology utilized for the emitter source of IRSP systems is thermal pixel arrays (TPAs) which are based on thin film resistor technology. Thermal pixel array technology has fundamental limitations related to response time and maximum simulated apparent temperature, making them unsuitable for emulation of very hot (> 700 K) and rapidly evolving scenes. Additionally, there exists a need for dual wavelength emitter arrays for IRSP systems dedicated to calibration of dual wavelength detector arrays. This need is currently met by combining the spectral output from two separate IRSP systems. This configuration requires precise alignment of the output from both systems and results in the maximum radiance being limited to approximately half that of the capability of a given emitter array due to the optics used to combine the outputs. The high switching speed inherent to IR light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the potential for high power output makes them an appealing candidate to replace the thermal pixel arrays used for IRSP systems. To this end, research has been carried out to develop and improve the device performance of IR LEDs based on InAs/GaSb type-II superlattices (T2SLs). A common method employed to achieve high brightness from LEDs is to incorporate multiple active regions, coupled by tunnel junctions. Tunnel junctions must provide adequate barriers to prevent carrier leakage, while at the same time remain low in tunneling resistance to prevent unwanted heating. The performance of two tunnel junction designs are compared in otherwise identical four stage InAs/GaSb superlattice LED (SLED) devices for application in IRSP systems. This research culminated in the development of a 48 Μm pitch, 512$times512 individually addressable mid-wave IR LED array based on a sixteen stage, InAs/GaSb T2SL device design. This array was hybridized to a read-in integrated circuit and exhibited a pixel yield greater than 95 %. Projections based on single element emitter results predict this array will be able to achieve a peak apparent temperature of 1350 K within the entire 3-5 Μm band. These results demonstrate the feasibility of emitter arrays intended for IRSP systems based on InAs/GaSb SLED devices. Additionally, a dual wavelength 48 Μm pitch, 8x8 emitter array based on InAs/GaSb T2SL LEDs was developed and demonstrated. This design incorporates two separate, 16 stage InAs/GaSb SL active regions with varying InAs layer thicknesses built into a single vertical heterostructure. The device architecture is a three terminal device allowing for independent control of the intensity of each emission region. Each emitter region creates a contiguous pixel, capable of being planarized and mated to drive electronics.

The characterization of exozodiacal light emission is both important for the understanding of planetary systems evolution and for the preparation of future space missions aiming to characterize low mass planets in the habitable zone of nearby main sequence stars. The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) exozodi survey aims at providing a ten-fold improvement over current state of the art, measuring dust emission levels down to a typical accuracy of similar to 12 zodis per star, for a representative ensemble of similar to 30+ high priority targets. Such measurements promise to yield a final accuracy of about 2 zodis on the median exozodi level of the targets sample. Reaching a 1. measurement uncertainty of 12 zodis per star corresponds to measuring interferometric cancellation ("null") levels, i.e visibilities at the few 100 ppm uncertainty level. We discuss here the challenges posed by making such high accuracy mid-infrared visibility measurements from the ground and present the methodology we developed for achieving current best levels of 500 ppm or so. We also discuss current limitations and plans for enhanced exozodi observations over the next few years at LBTI.

InAs/GaSb superlattices are an attractive material system for infrared light emitting diodes, due to the ability to tune the band gap throughout most of the infrared regime. A key consideration in the epitaxial growth of these heterostructures is crystalline material quality. In developing thick layers of epitaxially grown material, there are moderate amounts of elastic strain that can be incorporated into a heterostructure, beyond which deformations will form that will alleviate the lattice mismatch. This thesis investigates the optical and electronic properties of lattice-mismatched and strained materials through the study of thick dual-color light emitting diodes, broadband light emitting diodes, and InAs/GaSb superlattice devices developed on GaAs substrates and GaAs integrated circuits. A dual-color infrared light emitting diode is demonstrated emitting in the mid-wave infrared band at 3.81 μm and 4.72 μm. The design of the device stacks two independently operable InAs/GaSb superlattices structures on top of one another, so that 10 μm of material is grown with molecular beam epitaxy. Each layer is lattice-matched to a GaSb substrate. At quasi-continuous operation, radiances of 5.48 W/cm2-sr and 2.67 W/cm2-sr are obtained. A broadband light emitting diode spanning the mid-wave infrared is demonstrated with eight stages of InAs/GaSb superlattices individually tuned to a different color. The performance of the device is compared with an identical eight stage device emitting in the middle of the mid-wave infrared. The emission of the fabricated broadband device spans from 3.2 μm to 6 μm with peak radiance of 137.1 mW/cm2-sr. Growth of antimonide-based devices on GaAs is desirable to the relative transparency of semi-insulating substrates throughout the infrared, and as semi-insulating GaSb substrates are not available. The growth of bulk GaSb on GaAs is explored through different techniques in order to confine relaxation due to lattice mismatch strain to the GaSb/GaAs interface. A low temperature nucleation technique with a thin GaSb wetting layer is found to have the best overall surface morphology, although screw dislocations are a prominent feature on all samples. The dislocations and overall surface roughness are not found to destructively impact the overall device quality, as four stage InAs/GaSb superlattice devices grown on GaAs substrates are found to have superior electroluminescent emission and external quantum efficiency compared to an identical device grown on a GaSb substrate due to the higher substrate transparency and superior thermal properties. Epitaxy on electronics growth techniques on GaAs integrated circuits are developed to bypass the hybridization process in light emitting diode development. Chips obtained from Quorvo, Inc. are found to endure ultra-high vacuum molecular beam epitaxy environment at higher temperatures with silicon nitride encapsulation, and a low temperature oxide removal technique is developed using an atomic hydrogen source. Chemical-mechanical polishing techniques are developed to create an “epi-ready” substrate surface. Ultimately, no photoluminescent emission is observed from InAs/GaSb superlattices grown on GaAs integrated circuits, although electroluminescent emission is still possible.

In this work, novel quantum well structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Samples have been designed in order to allow access to light sources from InP based type I interband devices, for the technologically important mid-infrared (Mid-IR) (2-5 um) spectral range. Investigations of dilute nitride InGaAsN and InAsN were performed with the intent to highlight the potential availability of type-I MQW structures grown onto InP substrates emitting Mid-IR radiation. This thesis describes the successful attempt to overcome restrictions imposed by lattice mismatch and resultant critical thickness limitations as described by past experiments with these materials, where conventional III-V alloy materials are restricted to 2.3pm and dilute nitride materials have been previously reported as emitting up to 2.6pm within this strained MQW regime.

Um Amplificador Paramétrico Óptico (optical parametric amplifier - OPA) é uma fonte de luz coerente, de alta qualidade e sintonizável, baseada em processos ópticos não-lineares de segunda ordem. Alguns modelos possuem largura de banda estreita e um amplo intervalo de sintonia, podendo alcançar regiões que vão desde o ultravioleta até o infravermelho médio. A nossa motivação para construir este amplificador paramétrico óptico é sua utilização em experimentos de espectroscopia vibracional de superfícies através do processo óptico não-linear de segunda ordem, geração de soma de frequências (sum-frequency generation - SFG), que é uma técnica que exige fontes sintonizáveis no infravermelho médio e com altas intensidades de pico e largura de banda estreita. O objetivo desse trabalho foi projetar, montar e testar um amplificador paramétrico óptico capaz de produzir pulsos sintonizáveis de alta energia no infravermelho médio (λ ~ 2,5 a 10 μm) a partir de um laser de bombeio que fornece pulsos de 25 ps, com alta energia em λ = 1064 nm. Para obter-se uma geração de infravermelho bastante eficiente, foi proposto um projeto inovador para amplificadores paramétricos de picossegundos, utilizando-se a geração de supercontínuo de luz branca como feixe sinal do estágio de amplificação paramétrica. O pulso de bombeio (λ = 1064 nm) é dividido em duas partes: a primeira, de menor energia, é utilizada para gerar um pulso de alta largura espectral no infravermelho próximo (supercontínuo de luz branca de picossegundos). Uma fração espectral desse pulso é selecionada através de um monocromador e utilizada como semente do estágio de amplificação paramétrica. O cristal amplificador paramétrico (sulfeto de prata e gálio, AgGaS2) é então bombeado pelo restante do pulso de bombeio e simultaneamente amplifica a semente sintonizável no infravermelho próximo e gera um novo pulso de frequência complementar no infravermelho médio. Foram testados vários meios para geração de supercontínuo, mas os melhores resultados foram obtidos em uma cubeta de 10 cm de comprimento com uma mistura de água e água deuterada (3 % em volume de H2O em D2O) e em uma fibra fotônica não-linear com 2 m de comprimento. Usando o supercontínuo como feixe semente, observou-se amplificação paramétrica no caso do feixe gerado na fibra fotônica com um ganho de 260 vezes, mas não com o feixe gerado na mistura de água/água deuterada, presumivelmente pela maior instabilidade desse supercontínuo.
An Optical Parametric Amplifier (OPA) is a tunable light source of high quality, coherent radiation, based on second-order nonlinear optical processes. Some models have a narrow spectral bandwidth and a tuning range from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared. The motivation for building this optical parametric amplifier is its use in vibrational spectroscopy of surfaces by a second-order nonlinear optical process, sum-frequency generation (SFG), which is a technique that requires tunable sources in the mid-infrared with narrow bandwidth and high peak intensities. The purpose of this work is to design, implement and test an OPA to generate tunable high energy pulses tuneable in the mid-infrared (λ ~ 2.5 to 10 μm) from a pumping laser that provides 25 ps pulses with high energy at λ = 1064 nm. For an efficient mid-infrared generation, we propose an innovative design for picosecond parametric amplifiers, using the near infrared portion of a white-light supercontinuum pulse as the seed beam for the parametric amplifier. The pump pulse (λ = 1064 nm) is divided into two parts: the first one, with lower energy, generates a high spectral width pulse in the near infrared (white-light supercontinuum picosecond pulse). A spectral fraction of this pulse is selected through a monochromator and is used as seed for the parametric amplification stage. The second part of the laser beam pumps the parametric amplifier crystal (silver gallium sulfide, AgGaS2) which simultaneously amplifies the tunable seed beam in the near infrared and generates a new pulse with complementary frequency in the mid-infrared. Several media were tested for supercontinuum generation, but the best results were obtained with a 10 cm long cuvette with a mixture of water and deuterated water (3 % volume of H2O in D2O) and with a 2 m long nonlinear photonic crystal fiber. Using the supercontinuum as a seed beam, we have obtained parametric amplification of the seed generated by the photonic fiber with a gain of 260 times, but not of the beam generated by the water mixture, presumably because of its significantly higher instability.

Optoelectronic devices operating in the mid-infrared spectral region are attracting increasing attention due to potential applications in a wide range of disciplines. For example, mid-infrared photodetectors play a key role in thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion, whereby a photovoltaic device is used to extract electrical power from heat radiation. This technology is attractive for waste heat harvesting and clean energy production in several different environments. Similarly, mid-infrared light sources are particularly useful for biochemical sensing and spectroscopy, where the distinctive absorption features of many molecular species of interest can be exploited for their sensitive identification and detection. Both devices are investigated in this thesis work. In the area of TPV energy conversion, I have studied the use of intersubband transitions in semiconductor quantum cascade structures as a means to overcome the fundamental limitations of existing TPV devices using mature InP-based technology. Very efficient coverage of the incident radiation spectrum and optimal current matching can be achieved using multiple quantum-cascade structures monolithically integrated with a p-n junction, by taking advantage of their intrinsic cascading scheme, spectral agility, and design flexibility. Numerical simulations indicate that this approach can effectively double the present state-of-the-art in TPV output electrical power. In the area of mid-infrared light sources, my work has focused on developing efficient light emitters based on tensilely strained Germanium nanomembranes (Ge NMs). These ultrathin (a few ten nanometers) single-crystal membranes are good candidates for the development of CMOS-compatible Group-IV light sources, by virtue of their ability to sustain large strain levels and in the process become direct-bandgap materials. My research efforts have concentrated on the development of optical cavities based on Ge NMs that can satisfy the mechanical flexibility requirement of this materials platform. In particular, photonic-crystal (PhC) cavities in the form of disconnected dielectric-column arrays have been designed and fabricated based on a novel membrane assembly method, producing clear cavity-mode features in NM photoluminescence spectra.
2016-08-17T00:00:00Z

Quantum cascade lasers (QCL) are semiconductor lasers that emit radiation in the mid-infrared to the terahertz (THz) range. External cavity quantum cascade lasers are broadly tunable mid-infrared and even THz laser sources that have a wide variety of applications in spectroscopy, sensing, imaging and other areas. Anti-reflection (AR) coatings, when applied on the laser facet reduce parasitic lasing, increase spectrum purity and tuning range, are crucial for good performance of external cavity systems. This report describes the process of determining the thickness of a double layer AR coating, applying the coatings to a quantum cascade laser and testing its reflectivity in the mid-infrared range. We determined the thickness of each layer of the AR coatings by building a propagation matrix model using Mathematica. We applied the coatings of Al2O3 and ZnSe using an Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition and a Sputtering Deposition system. Finally we tested the reflectivity of the laser by measuring a change in threshold current. The initial reflectivity of 30% was reduced to 7.7% with the addition of the AR coatings.
text