Widely tunable compact terahertz gas lasers

Abstract

Compared with other wavelengths, coherent sources of electromagnetic radiation in the terahertz regime are relatively scarce. Despite a number of applications in security imaging, spectroscopy, and chemical analysis, it has been experimentally challenging to produce such light. Chevalier et al. demonstrate an approach involving the excitation of a molecular gas with a quantum cascade laser. They show that they can tune into a broad range of desired wavelengths by carefully selecting the required molecular transition. A compact platform—the size of a shoe box—and widely tunable source of coherent terahertz radiation should find immediate application across a number of fields.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Nov 15, 2019
Source ID
10.1126/science.aay8683

Entities

People

  • Arman Amirzhan
  • Fan Wang
  • Federico Capasso
  • Henry O. Everitt
  • Marco Piccardo
  • Paul Chevalier
  • Steven G. Johnson

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Duke University
  • Harvard University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • National Science Foundation
  • United States Army

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Spectroscopy.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Quantum Computing