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Studying the frequency tuning of pulsed terahertz quantum cascade lasers

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Radiation spectra of pulsed quantum cascade lasers operated at about 2.6 and 3.2 THz have been studied using the Fourier-transform technique. Tuning of the laser radiation frequency by 5.4 GHz in a temperature variation range of 8 to 86 K for the 2.6 THz laser and by 2.7 GHz in a range of 10 to 60 K for the 3.2 THz laser, resulting mainly from the temperature dependence of the effective refractive index of the active region, has been demonstrated. Frequency tuning by 420 MHz during the radiation pulse was shown for the first time in a laser with the active region designed on the basis of fast removal of the carriers from the lower operating level due to the phonon scattering.

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Correspondence to A. A. Lastovkin.

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Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 54, No. 8–9, pp. 676–683, August–September 2011.

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Lastovkin, A.A., Ikonnikov, A.V., Gavrilenko, V.I. et al. Studying the frequency tuning of pulsed terahertz quantum cascade lasers. Radiophys Quantum El 54, 609–615 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11141-012-9320-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11141-012-9320-1

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