Abstract-Bistability in bosonic terahertz lasers

A A Pervishko1, T C H Liew1,2, A V Kavokin3,4 and I A Shelykh1,5

http://iopscience.iop.org/0953-8984/26/8/08530

anas0005@e.ntu.edu.sg

1 Division of Physics and Applied Physics, Nanyang Technological University 637371, Singapore
2 Mediterranean Institute of Fundamental Physics, 31 via Appia Nuova, I-00040 Rome, Italy
3 Spin Optics Laboratory, Saint-Petersburg State University, Petrodvorets, 198504 St Petersburg, Russia
4 Physics and Astronomy School, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 IBJ, UK
5 Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi-3, IS-107, Reykjavik, Iceland 

We study theoretically terahertz (THz) lasing in a system consisting of a quantum well placed inside an optical microcavity and a THz cavity in the regime of two-photon excitation of 2p dark exciton states. The stability of the system with varying parameters of the microcavity under coherent pumping is analyzed. We show that the nonlinearity provided by two-photon absorption can give rise to bistability and hysteresis in the THz output. This offers an opportunity for the realization of ultrafast THz switches.