Optical Frequency Combs from High-Order Sideband Generation

Abstract

We report on the generation of frequency combs from the recently-discovered phenomenon of high-order sideband generation (HSG). A near-band gap continuous-wave (cw) laser with frequency f(NIR) was transmitted through an epitaxial layer containing GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells that were driven by quasi-cw in-plane electric fields F-THz between 4 and 50 kV/cm oscillating at frequencies f(THz) between 240 and 640 GHz. Frequency combs with teeth at f(sideband) = f(NIR) n f(THz) (n even) were produced, with maximum reported n > 120, corresponding to a maximum comb span > 80 THz. Comb spectra with the identical product f(THz) x F-THz were found to have similar spans and shapes in most cases, as expected from the picture of HSG as a scattering-limited electron-hole recollision phenomenon. The HSG combs were used to measure the frequency and linewidth of our THz source as a demonstration of potential applications.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 30, 2018
Accession Number
AD1104080

Entities

People

  • Arthur C. Gossard
  • Darren C. Valovcin
  • Hunter B. Banks
  • Kenneth West
  • Loren Pfeiffer
  • Mark S. Sherwin
  • Shawn Mack

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Electron Holes
  • Energy Bands
  • Free Electron Lasers
  • Free Electrons
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Combs
  • Lasers
  • Near Infrared Radiation
  • Optics
  • Polaritons
  • Resonance
  • Scattering
  • Semiconductor Lasers
  • Semiconductors
  • Spectra
  • Terahertz Radiation
  • Wave Mixing

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Geochemistry
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics
  • Quantum Computing