Effect Of Transverse Mode Structure On The Far Field Pattern Of Metal-metal Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers

摘要

We elucidate the effects of the lateral mode structure on the far field pattern of metal-metal ridge-waveguide terahertz quantum cascade lasers. By introducing a 6-μm-wide metal gap on the top metal contact, we suppress odd-parity lateral modes and drastically modify the far field pattern. Measurements are in good qualitative agreement with full three-dimensional finite-difference-time-domain modeling. Experimental evidence of nonuniform current pumping on the intensity distribution of the guided mode (and hence the far field pattern) is also presented and explained in terms of gain guiding.