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Theoretical calculation proposes using heat to power QCLs

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Heat generated in a quantum cascade laser (QCL) – something that normally causes the lasing to turn off – could actually be used to power the device instead, according to a theoretical calculation developed at the University of Innsbruck.

Helmut Ritsch of the university’s Institute for Theoretical Physics and doctoral candidate Kathrin Sandner came up with the novel idea while looking for ways to reduce heat in quantum cascade lasers. They proposed that the heating effect in such lasers not only could be avoided but also could be reversed and used to the laser’s advantage by modifying the semiconductor layers’ thickness.

Light amplification in a QCL is achieved through a repeated pattern of specifically designed semiconductor layers of diverse doping through which electric current is running. Between these layers, electrons collide with other particles to heat the laser. Too much heat extinguishes the laser light in QCLs, which work only as long as they are strongly cooled.


A schematic picture of a quantum cascade laser. The layers of different semiconductor materials constitute the band structure shown in the inset. Heat generated in such a laser – something that normally causes the lasing to turn off – could actually be used to power the device instead, according to a theoretical calculation developed at the University of Innsbruck.


“A crucial part is to spatially separate the cold and warm areas in the laser,” Sandner said. Electrons are thermally excited in the warm area, and then tunnel into cooler areas, where photons are emitted. This produces a circuit where light particles are emitted and heat is absorbed from the system simultaneously.

It is between the consecutive emissions of light particles that a phonon is absorbed and the laser is cooled, Sandner said. When investigated further, the team discovered that phonons – a quantum mechanical description of a special type of vibrational motion – could adequately provide the energy needed for laser amplification.

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“The emission/absorption of a phonon (and in particular a so-called LO [longitudinal] phonon) is connected to a tailored intrawell transition to enhance the coupling” between phonons and photons, Ritsch told Photonics Spectra. “These phonons then decay into acoustic phonons of longer wavelength, which finally generates heat.”

The concept is challenging to realize in an experiment, but if successful, Ritsch believes it will be a technological breakthrough. He is currently discussing prototype implementation with two experimental groups in the field.

“The first step will target laser operation with reduced heat production before heat-driven lasing is tried,” Ritsch said. “The precise dynamics of heat flow for large temperature gradients is not very well known so far and could bear some surprises.”

The physical principle behind the idea could be applied to existing QCLs to provide internal cooling. The calculation could also be applied to other systems.

“From a theoretical point of view, we will look at other solid-state laser models,” he said. These will include fiber lasers and more general setups where electric driving and heat absorption steps are combined.

“From a more distant black-box perspective, the device could be also reinterpreted as a combination of a photoelectric cell combined with a QCL in a single device,” Ritsch said. “In such an implementation, blackbody photons would directly excite electrons in the material without being converted to phonons first.”

The theory was published in Physical Review Letters (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.193601).

Published: February 2013
Glossary
coherent radiation
Radiation in which the phase relationship between any two points in the radiation field has a constant difference, or is exactly the same in either the spatial or the temporal mode throughout the duration of the radiation.
laser cooling
A process and method by which manipulation and orientation of a given number of directed laser beams decreases the motion of a group of atoms or molecules such that their internal thermodynamic temperatures reach near absolute zero. The 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William D. Phillips for the development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.
photonics
The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
quantum cascade laser
A quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a type of semiconductor laser that operates based on the principles of quantum mechanics. It is a versatile and powerful device used for emitting coherent light in the mid-infrared to terahertz range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Quantum cascade lasers were first proposed by Federico Capasso, Jerome Faist, Deborah Sivco, Carlo Sirtori, Albert Hutchinson, and Alfred Cho in 1994. Key features and principles of quantum cascade lasers: Quantum cascade...
AustriaBasic Sciencecoherent lightcoherent radiationEuropefar-infrared lasersfiber lasersheat reduction in lasersHelmut RitschKathrin Sandnerlaser amplificationlaser coolinglight amplificationlight particlesphotonicsQCLquantum cascade laserResearch & Technologysemiconductor layersTech Pulseterahertz lasersUniversity of InnsbruckLasers

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