Mid-infrared intersubband emission from optically pumped asymmetric coupled quantum wells

A. Sa'ar; Y. Lavon; F. H. Julien; P. Boucaud; J. Wang; J. P. Leburton; R. Planel

doi:10.1006/spmi.1996.0171

Mid-infrared intersubband emission from optically pumped asymmetric coupled quantum wells

A. Sa'ar^*, Y. Lavon, F. H. Julien, P. Boucaud, J. Wang, J. P. Leburton, R. Planel

^*Corresponding author for this work

Racah Institute of Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mid-infrared optical emission due to intersubband transitions between excited conduction subbands of a coupled quantum well structure is studied. The emission process is based on optical pumping of free carriers from the ground subband into the third subband followed by a radiative transition from the third subband into the second subband and a fast phonon assisted relaxation into the ground subband. We have observed spontaneous emission at 14 μm that persists up to room temperature. Our results indicate that population inversion between conduction subbands and large stimulated gain can be achieved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	517-525
Number of pages	9
Journal	Superlattices and Microstructures
Volume	21
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1006/spmi.1996.0171
State	Published - Jun 1997

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
In conclusion, we have demonstrated intersubband mid-infrared luminescence in ACQW structure that is optically pumped by a CO2 laser. The emission signal persists from low temperatures up to room temperature. The conditions to have a population inversion can be achieved by intersubband scattering time engineering that allows fast relaxation from the second subband relative to a slower relaxation rate of the third subband. However, we found that the phonon bottleneck effect causes a critical slowdown of the relaxation rate between the second and the ground subband. As a result the carriers are heated up, leading to thermal population of the second subband that destroys the population inversion. A possible solution to this problem may be achieved by using a four level system in which the carrier heating effect can significantly be reduced .[30].. Acknowledgements—This work has been supported by a joint grant of the Commission of European Com- munities (EC No. CI1 -CT93-0072) and the Israeli ministry of science and by grant No. 95-00361 from the United States–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), Jerusalem, Israel. J. Wang and J.-P. Leburton acknowledge the support by the Engineering center of compound semiconductors microelectronics under grant No. NSF EEC 89-43166.

Keywords

Intersubband transitions
Optical properties of quantum wells
Semiconductor lasers

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10.1006/spmi.1996.0171

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title = "Mid-infrared intersubband emission from optically pumped asymmetric coupled quantum wells",

abstract = "Mid-infrared optical emission due to intersubband transitions between excited conduction subbands of a coupled quantum well structure is studied. The emission process is based on optical pumping of free carriers from the ground subband into the third subband followed by a radiative transition from the third subband into the second subband and a fast phonon assisted relaxation into the ground subband. We have observed spontaneous emission at 14 μm that persists up to room temperature. Our results indicate that population inversion between conduction subbands and large stimulated gain can be achieved.",

keywords = "Intersubband transitions, Optical properties of quantum wells, Semiconductor lasers",

author = "A. Sa'ar and Y. Lavon and Julien, {F. H.} and P. Boucaud and J. Wang and Leburton, {J. P.} and R. Planel",

note = "Funding Information: In conclusion, we have demonstrated intersubband mid-infrared luminescence in ACQW structure that is optically pumped by a CO2 laser. The emission signal persists from low temperatures up to room temperature. The conditions to have a population inversion can be achieved by intersubband scattering time engineering that allows fast relaxation from the second subband relative to a slower relaxation rate of the third subband. However, we found that the phonon bottleneck effect causes a critical slowdown of the relaxation rate between the second and the ground subband. As a result the carriers are heated up, leading to thermal population of the second subband that destroys the population inversion. A possible solution to this problem may be achieved by using a four level system in which the carrier heating effect can significantly be reduced .[30].. Acknowledgements—This work has been supported by a joint grant of the Commission of European Com- munities (EC No. CI1 -CT93-0072) and the Israeli ministry of science and by grant No. 95-00361 from the United States–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), Jerusalem, Israel. J. Wang and J.-P. Leburton acknowledge the support by the Engineering center of compound semiconductors microelectronics under grant No. NSF EEC 89-43166.",

year = "1997",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1006/spmi.1996.0171",

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T1 - Mid-infrared intersubband emission from optically pumped asymmetric coupled quantum wells

AU - Sa'ar, A.

AU - Lavon, Y.

AU - Julien, F. H.

AU - Boucaud, P.

AU - Wang, J.

AU - Leburton, J. P.

AU - Planel, R.

N1 - Funding Information: In conclusion, we have demonstrated intersubband mid-infrared luminescence in ACQW structure that is optically pumped by a CO2 laser. The emission signal persists from low temperatures up to room temperature. The conditions to have a population inversion can be achieved by intersubband scattering time engineering that allows fast relaxation from the second subband relative to a slower relaxation rate of the third subband. However, we found that the phonon bottleneck effect causes a critical slowdown of the relaxation rate between the second and the ground subband. As a result the carriers are heated up, leading to thermal population of the second subband that destroys the population inversion. A possible solution to this problem may be achieved by using a four level system in which the carrier heating effect can significantly be reduced .[30].. Acknowledgements—This work has been supported by a joint grant of the Commission of European Com- munities (EC No. CI1 -CT93-0072) and the Israeli ministry of science and by grant No. 95-00361 from the United States–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), Jerusalem, Israel. J. Wang and J.-P. Leburton acknowledge the support by the Engineering center of compound semiconductors microelectronics under grant No. NSF EEC 89-43166.

PY - 1997/6

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N2 - Mid-infrared optical emission due to intersubband transitions between excited conduction subbands of a coupled quantum well structure is studied. The emission process is based on optical pumping of free carriers from the ground subband into the third subband followed by a radiative transition from the third subband into the second subband and a fast phonon assisted relaxation into the ground subband. We have observed spontaneous emission at 14 μm that persists up to room temperature. Our results indicate that population inversion between conduction subbands and large stimulated gain can be achieved.

AB - Mid-infrared optical emission due to intersubband transitions between excited conduction subbands of a coupled quantum well structure is studied. The emission process is based on optical pumping of free carriers from the ground subband into the third subband followed by a radiative transition from the third subband into the second subband and a fast phonon assisted relaxation into the ground subband. We have observed spontaneous emission at 14 μm that persists up to room temperature. Our results indicate that population inversion between conduction subbands and large stimulated gain can be achieved.

KW - Intersubband transitions

KW - Optical properties of quantum wells

KW - Semiconductor lasers

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Mid-infrared intersubband emission from optically pumped asymmetric coupled quantum wells

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