Browsing by Author "Kamboj, Varun S."

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    Bolometric detection of terahertz quantum cascade laser radiation with graphene-plasmonic antenna arrays
    (IOP Publishing, 2017-03-27) Degl'Innocenti, Riccardo; Xiao, Long; Kindness, Stephen J.; Kamboj, Varun S.; Wei, Binbin; Braeuninger-Weimer, Philipp; Nakanishi, Kenichi; Aria, Adrianus Indrat; Hofmann, Stephan; Beere, Harvey E.; Ritchie, David A.
    We present a fast room temperature terahertz detector based on graphene loaded plasmonic antenna arrays. The antenna elements, which are arranged in series and are shorted by graphene, are contacting source and drain metallic pads, thus providing both the optical resonant element and the electrodes. The distance between the antenna’s arms of approximately 300 nm allows a strong field enhancement in the graphene region, when the incident radiation is resonant with the antennas. The current passing through the source and drain is dependent on the graphene’s conductivity, which is modified by the power impinging onto the detector as well as from the biasing back-gate voltage. The incident radiation power is thus translated into a current modification, with the main detection mechanism being attributed to the bolometric effect. The device has been characterized and tested with two bound to continuum terahertz quantum cascade lasers emitting at a single frequency around 2 THz and 2.7 THz yielding a maximum responsivity of ~2 mA W−1.
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    External amplitude and frequency modulation of a terahertz quantum cascade laser using metamaterial/graphene devices
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2017-08-09) Kindness, S. J.; Jessop, D. S.; Wei, B.; Wallis, R.; Kamboj, Varun S.; Xiao, L.; Ren, Y.; Braeuninger-Weimer, P.; Aria, Adrianus Indrat; Hofmann, S.; Beere, H. E.; Ritchie, David A.; Degl’Innocenti, R.
    Active control of the amplitude and frequency of terahertz sources is an essential prerequisite for exploiting a myriad of terahertz applications in imaging, spectroscopy, and communications. Here we present a optoelectronic, external modulation technique applied to a terahertz quantum cascade laser which holds the promise of addressing a number of important challenges in this research area. A hybrid metamaterial/graphene device is implemented into an external cavity set-up allowing for optoelectronic tuning of feedback into a quantum cascade laser. We demonstrate powerful, all-electronic, control over the amplitude and frequency of the laser output. Full laser switching is performed by electrostatic gating of the metamaterial/graphene device, demonstrating a modulation depth of 100%. External control of the emission spectrum is also achieved, highlighting the flexibility of this feedback method. By taking advantage of the frequency dispersive reflectivity of the metamaterial array, different modes of the QCL output are selectively suppressed using lithographic tuning and single mode operation of the multi-mode laser is enforced. Side mode suppression is electrically modulated from ~6 dB to ~21 dB, demonstrating active, optoelectronic modulation of the laser frequency content between multi-mode and single mode operation.