Abstract-Influence of the facet type on the performance of terahertz quantum cascade lasers with double-metal waveguides

Werner Schrenk², Gottfried Strasser²,  Karl Unterrainer¹
Martin Brandstetter¹, Michael Krall¹, Christoph Deutsch¹, Hermann Detz², Aaron M. Andrews²,

¹Photonics Institute and Center for Micro- and Nanostructures, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstrasse 29, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
²Institute of Solid-State Electronics and Center for Micro- and Nanostructures, Vienna University of Technology, Floragasse 7, A-1040 Vienna, Austria 

http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v102/i23/p231121_s1?isAuthorized=no

We investigate the influence of cleaved and dry chemically etched facets on the performance of terahertz quantum cascade lasers with double-metal waveguides. We theoretically show that the reflectivity and therefore also the mirror losses depend on the facet type. We fabricated devices employing both a cleaved and an etched facet, which show an asymmetric output characteristic. Furthermore, we compare the performance in terms of maximum operation temperature of lasers with each facet configuration. The results suggest that the devices are operated in a mirror loss dominated regime.

© 2013 © 2013 Author(s).