Interband impact ionization and nonlinear absorption of terahertz radiation in semiconductor heterostructures

We have theoretically investigated nonlinear free-carrier absorption of terahertz (THz) radiation in InAs/AlSb heterojunctions. By considering multiple photon process and conduction-valence interband impact ionization (II), we have determined the field and frequency dependent absorption rate. It is shown that (i). electron-disorder scatterings are important at low to intermediate field, and (ii). most importantly, the high field absorption is dominated by II processes. Our theory can satisfactorily explain a long-standing experimental result on the nonlinear absorption in the THz regime.     

Monte Carlo Simulation of THz-Pulse Generation from Bulk GaAs Surface

An ensemble Monte Carlo simulation method has been used to study THz-pulse generation from semiconductor GaAs surface excited by a femtosecond laser pulse and biased in high electrical field near 100kV/cm. Electron transport is simulated using the three-valley conduction band model and taking into account acoustic, optical (polar and nonpolar) and intervalley phonon scattering mechanisms. Our simulations show that the THz temporal waveforms have a close relationship with the biased external field and the THz radiation is saturated with the increase of the biased field, these findings have not been exploited by the existing theoretical analyses. Power spectra show that the higher biased electrical field benefits the frequency extension for the THz radiation.     

Phase-locked optical divide-by-3 system for visible radiation

An optical divide-by-3 system has been developed to phase lock a diode-pumped Tm:YAG laser at 148 THz (2022 nm) to a frequency near 1/3 that of an ultrastable diode laser system at 445 THz (674 nm). The 148-THz radiation is frequency doubled in angle-tuned AgGaS(2) and frequency differenced with the 445-THz radiation in noncritically phase-matched LiNbO(3) , generating two signals at 297 THz, which are mixed on a photodiode. An electronic servo system is used to control the frequency of the Tm:YAG laser and to phase lock it to the visible diode laser output. Phase-locking periods of several minutes are routinely obtained.     

Monte Carlo Study of Terahertz Radiation from InAs

In this paper we investigated the THz radiation dynamics in InAs using the ensemble Monte Carlo method. Our simulations indicated that THz pulse shapes (temporal waveforms) are closely related with the pump laser fluence. The sharp, negative peak of a THz pulse may result from the electron intervalley transfers from center valley to satellite valleys. Our numerical results show that higher laser fluence is an advantage in enhancing the output of high frequency components. The spato-temporal distributions of photo-Dember fields on the semiconductor surface were also analyzed.     

Stimulated terahertz stokes emission of silicon crystals doped with antimony donors

Stimulated Stokes emission has been observed from silicon crystals doped by antimony donors when optically excited by radiation from a tunable infrared free electron laser. The photon energy of the emission is equal to the pump photon energy reduced by the energy of the intervalley transverse acoustic (TA) g phonon in silicon (approximately 2.92 THz). The emission frequency covers the range of 4.6-5.8 THz. The laser process occurs due to a resonant coupling of the 1s(E) and 1s(A1) donor states (separation approximately 2.97 THz) via the g-TA phonon, which conserves momentum and energy within a single impurity center.     

周期极化非线性晶体中太赫兹波辐射研究

 从理论上详细研究了飞秒激光在周期极化非线性晶体中由光整流效应产生的太赫兹（THz）波辐射。利用天线辐射原理和光栅衍射理论,着重研究THz波辐射的频域场和时域场的分布。讨论和分析了THz波辐射的中心频率、频谱宽度和电场随辐射角的变化。研究表明,THz波的带宽反比于晶体的长度或光栅数,电场随辐射角呈准谐波变化。     

周期极化非线性晶体中太赫兹波辐射研究

从理论上详细研究了飞秒激光在周期极化非线性晶体中由光整流效应产生的太赫兹（THz）波辐射。利用天线辐射原理和光栅衍射理论,着重研究THz波辐射的频域场和时域场的分布。讨论和分析了THz波辐射的中心频率、频谱宽度和电场随辐射角的变化。研究表明,THz波的带宽反比于晶体的长度或光栅数,电场随辐射角呈准谐波变化。     

Generation of millimeter radiation due to electric-field-induced electron-transit-time resonance in indium phosphide

The stimulated millimeter radiation from n-type indium phosphide was observed at T=4.2 K in a strong electric field. The generation is due to the appearance of negative differential conductivity near the electron-transit-time resonance and electron bundling in momentum space in a strong electric field under conditions of low-temperature scattering from optical phonons. The dependence of the radiation frequency and intensity on the electric field was experimentally measured and the radiation spectrum is presented. The experimental data satisfactorily agree with the results of numerical simulations obtained previously by the Monte Carlo method.     

Tunable far-infrared spectroscopy extended to 9.1THz

We synthesized tunable far-infrared radiation at frequencies higher than 9 THz (300 cm (-1)) by mixing CO(2) laser, (15)NH(3) laser, and microwave radiation in a W-Co metal-insulator-metal diode. We used this farinfrared radiation to accurately measure torsion-rotation transitions of CH(3)OH in the 8-9-THz region. We also measured the frequency of the aP(7, 3) (15)NH(3) laser transition.     

不同中心波长飞秒脉冲激发InAs表面辐射太赫兹波的机理研究

研究了p型(100)InAs在不同中心波长飞秒激发光(750—850nm)作用下的太赫兹(THz)波辐射特性.这种太赫兹辐射的光谱性质与光学Dember效应密切相关,飞秒脉冲激发下产生的载流子在InAs表面的Dember场内做加速运动,从而辐射出THz电磁波.实验结果表明：不同中心波长的激发光作用下,InAs表面产生的Dember电场、光生载流子浓度、谷间散射效应以及处于不同状态的载流子数目都发生了变化,因而激发出太赫兹波的功率、振幅、频谱分布和有效谱宽是不同的.这项研究将有利于THz时域光谱技术以及实验     

堆积啁啾脉冲在单模光纤中的非线性传输特性

通过数值求解广义非线性薛定谔方程,分析了32路线性啁啾高斯脉冲堆积后的整形脉冲在单模光纤中的传输特性。结果表明经50 m单模光纤传输后脉冲的脉宽和包络形状基本不变; 非线性效应中的自相位调制和脉冲内Raman散射对脉冲频域特性影响较大,使频谱展宽约40 THz,中心角频率下移约10 THz; 而自陡效应,三阶色散对传输特性影响不大。     

Electron scattering with spin flip in indium antimonide and indium arsenide

The longitudinal magnetoresistance has been investigated at temperatures in the range from 2.8 to 200 K in a magnetic field of up to 200 kOe with the aim of determining the temperature range and the magnetic field strength at which charge carrier scattering with spin flip occurs in n-type indium arsenide and n-type indium antimonide. It is established that quantum oscillations of the longitudinal magnetoresistance of indium arsenide exhibit weak zero maxima due to electron scattering with spin flip at temperatures in the range from 4 to 35 K in a magnetic field of 146 kOe. For the longitudinal magnetoresistance of indium antimonide, zero maxima caused by electron scattering with spin flip are revealed in the temperature range from 60 to 80 K in a magnetic field of 132 kOe.     

Excitonic optical absorption in semiconductors under intense terahertz radiation

The excitonic optical absorption of GaAs bulk semiconductors under intense terahertz （THz） radiation is investigated numerically. The method of solving initial-value problems, combined with the perfect matched layer technique, is used to calculate the optical susceptibility. In the presence of a driving THz field, in addition to the usual exciton peaks, 2p replica of the dark 2p exciton and even-THz-photon-sidebands of the main exciton resonance emerge in the continuum above the band edge and below the main exciton resonance. Moreover, to understand the shift of the position of the main exciton peak under intense THz radiation, it is necessary to take into consideration both the dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect and ac Stark effect simultaneously. For moderate frequency fields, the main exciton peak decreases and broadens due to the field-induced ionization of the excitons with THz field increasing. However, for high frequency THz fields, the characteristics of the exciton recur even under very strong THz fields, which accords with the recent experimental results qualitatively.     

不同中心波长飞秒脉冲激发InAs表面辐射太赫兹波的机理研究

研究了p型(100)InAs在不同中心波长飞秒激发光(750—850nm)作用下的太赫兹(THz)波辐射特性.这种太赫兹辐射的光谱性质与光学Dember效应密切相关，飞秒脉冲激发下产生的载流子在InAs表面的Dember场内做加速运动，从而辐射出THz电磁波.实验结果表明：不同中心波长的激发光作用下，InAs表面产生的Dember电场、光生载流子浓度、谷间散射效应以及处于不同状态的载流子数目都发生了变化，因而激发出太赫兹波的功率、振幅、频谱分布和有效谱宽是不同的.这项研究将有利于THz时域光谱技术以及实验     

Effects of gain saturation on terahertz radiation via optical difference frequency generation

Numerical studies on stability of terahertz (THz) radiation generation based on difference frequency generation in nonlinear crystals are reported. When the gain saturation is achieved at a wavelength that corresponds to an optimal crystal length, the maximal output of THz radiation could be obtained. As a result of crystal absorption, the gain saturation region of THz radiation is unstable region for output. The stability of THz radiation is determined by the stability of pump in the stable region where behind of the gain saturation.     

Electrical properties of indium implanted silicon

Electrical conductivity and Hall effect were measured from 100° to 278°K as a function of layer removal to determine the indium ionization energy and the presence of compensating centers resulting from the implantation of indium into silicon. The implants were fully annealed to reduce the influence of radiation damage. For comparison, similar measurements were performed on silicon shallow diffused with indium. Differential analysis methods were used to compute carrier concentration, mobility, and resistivity for the stripped layers. In addition, Hall measurements were performed on silicon uniformly doped with indium. In all three cases an indium energy level of 160 meV was observed. Mobility plots versus temperature were also consistent. However, significant compensation effects were noticed in the implants.     

Nonlinear terahertz spectroscopy of semiconductor nanostructures

Nonlinear frequency conversion and electro-optic sampling allow for the generation and phase-resolved characterization of few-cycle pulses in the frequency range up to 50 THz. Electric field transients with amplitudes of up to several MV/cm are applied to study coherent nonlinear excitations of low-dimensional semiconductors. We report the first observation of Rabi oscillations on intersubband transitions of electrons in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. Frequency and phase of such oscillations are controlled in the 0.3- to 2.5-THz range via the strength and shape of the mid-infrared driving pulse. PACS 78.67.De; 73.21.Fg; 07.57.Hm; 42.65.Re     

Nonlinear polarizability and plasmon resonances in terahertz photoconductivity

The nonlinear polarization of an electron plasma in an incident terahertz (THz) field is examined in an iterated shielded potential approximation. It is found to exhibit resonant behavior when the incident terahertz frequency matches the plasma frequency, with concomitant resonant increase of the dielectric function. Such resonant behavior substantially reduces the effectiveness of the screened impurity scattering potentials, admitting resonant increase of conduction when the THz frequency matches the plasma frequency.     

光电导天线太赫兹辐射峰值调控研究

针对微结构光电导天线与飞秒激光之间相互作用效应以及辐射太赫兹波调控问题进行了研究。采用德鲁德-洛伦兹理论模型获得微结构光电导天线辐射光电流密度,通过时域有限差分把光电流密度迭代在激励网格上,结合麦克斯韦方程求解时变电磁场,并通过传输线格林函数获得多层介质近场到远场的辐射太赫兹波,建立了辐射光电流与辐射阻抗、电磁共振模式之间的关系模型,模拟仿真分析了微结构S型光电导天线太赫兹波辐射调控机理。研究结果表明：微结构改变了天线等效模型的辐射阻抗;同时得知耦合系数不为零时存在耦合作用,且随着耦合系数增大共振频率峰值发生辐射增强和位移;并通过设计S型光电导天线获得辐射峰值频率调整范围为0.50～0.80 THz之间,对比工形天线辐射峰值频率由原来的0.40 T移动到0.76 T,频率调整度75%,峰值辐射效率约提高70%。该研究工作为后续高功率光导天线太赫兹波辐射的共振中心频点以及结构设计奠定重要基础。     

激光大气成丝中的非线性光频转换

超快强激光在光学介质（如空气）中传播时由于克尔自聚焦效应和等离体散焦效应动态平 衡会发生一种独特的非线性激光成丝现象。激光成丝过程会诱导一些独特的物理现象,如非线性 光频转换产生超连续光谱、等离子体诱导高压放电、锥形辐射等,在大气传感、天气控制等研究 领域具有重要的应用前景。本文针对飞秒激光大气成丝过程中与传输介质相互作用所诱导的非线 性发光过程,介绍了激光大气成丝所产生的超连续光谱（白光）激光、谐波产生和太赫兹波辐射 三种非线性光频转换现象,并着重探讨了太赫兹波辐射的物理机理、研究现状和应用前景。