Principal Investigator Qing Hu
Project Website http://www.rle.mit.edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/thz/Novelemitters.htm
For all the imaging and sensing applications involving THz quantum cascade lasers, the emission beam pattern and quality are extremely important. On the other hand, the long wavelength at THz (~100 µm) relative to the cross section of the laser ridge (several 10 µm) yields a highly divergent beam pattern from conventional edge-emitting Fabry-Perot ridges.
In this project, we are developing novel emitters with high beam qualities. One approach is based on surface-emitting 2nd-order DFB (distributed feedback) structures and phase-locked arrays of such emitters; more recently we are developing an innovative approach based on edge-emitting 3rd-order DFB structures which are essentially linear antenna arrays.