ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Photonics
Sec. Terahertz and Microwave Photonics
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphot.2025.1614809
Enhanced Surface Emission in Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers Using Plasma Layer Assisted Photonic Crystal Waveguides
Provisionally accepted
- RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics, Sendai, Japan
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
This paper introduces an innovative approach to enhancing surface emission in terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz QCLs) by incorporating a plasma-assisted layer into photonic crystal waveguides. While surface-emitting THz QCLs generally offer superior far-field beam quality compared to edge-emitting designs, they often suffer from low brightness. Our design addresses this limitation by effectively enhancing emission efficiency through the introduction of a plasma layer that disrupts the optical field symmetry. We utilize an advanced threedimensional TM-mode Coupled Wave Theory (3D TM-mode CWT) model to simulate and validate the proposed design. The results demonstrate a significant improvement in surface emission efficiency, providing a promising pathway for achieving high-brightness THz QCLs with enhanced performance.
Keywords: Terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz QCLs), surface-emitting lasers, photonic crystal waveguides, Plasma-assisted waveguide design, Coupled wave theory
Received: 19 Apr 2025; Accepted: 29 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Lin, Wang, Hirayama and Otani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mingxi Chen, RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics, Sendai, Japan
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.