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Polarization Control of Optically Pumped Terahertz Lasers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2013

Gabriela Slavcheva
Affiliation:
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London and Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials, University of Bath, U.K.
Alexey V. Kavokin
Affiliation:
Spin Optics Laboratory, St. Petersburg State University, Russia and School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, U. K.
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Abstract

Two-photon pumping of excited exciton states in semiconductor quantum wells is a tool for realization of ultra-compact terahertz (THz) lasers based on stimulated optical transition between excited 2p and ground 1s exciton state. We show that the probability of two-photon absorption by a 2p-exciton is strongly dependent on the polarization of both photons. Variation of the threshold power for THz lasing by a factor of 5 is predicted by switching from linear to circular pumping. We calculate the polarization dependence of the THz emission and identify photon polarization configurations for achieving maximum THz photon generation quantum efficiency.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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References

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