Dynamics of a vertical cavity quantum cascade phonon laser structure

Maryam, W.; Akimov, Andrey V.; Campion, R.P.; Kent, Anthony

Abstract

Driven primarily by scientific curiosity, but also by the potential applications of intense sources of coherent sound, researchers have targeted the phonon laser (saser) since the invention of the optical laser over 50 years ago. Here we fabricate a vertical cavity structure designed to operate as a saser oscillator device at a frequency of 325 GHz. It is based on a semiconductor superlattice gain medium, inside a multimode cavity between two acoustic Bragg reflectors. We measure the acoustic output of the device as a function of time after applying electrical pumping. The emission builds in intensity reaching a steady state on a timescale of order 0.1 μs. We show that the results are consistent with a model of the dynamics of a saser cavity exactly analogous to the models used for describing laser dynamics. We also obtain estimates for the gain coefficient, steady-state acoustic power output and efficiency of the device.

Citation

Maryam, W., Akimov, A. V., Campion, R., & Kent, A. (2013). Dynamics of a vertical cavity quantum cascade phonon laser structure. Nature Communications, 4, Article 2184. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3184

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 25, 2013
• Publication Date: Jul 25, 2013
• Deposit Date: Apr 16, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 16, 2014
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Electronic ISSN: 2041-1723
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Article Number: 2184
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3184
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/716232
• Publisher URL: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/130725/ncomms3184/full/ncomms3184.html