THz generation by optical rectification and competition with other nonlinear processes

We present a study of the competition between THz generation by optical rectification in ZnTe crystals with two-photon absorption and second harmonic generation. The incident pump field for optical rectification is shown to be depleted by two-photon absorption and the generated THz field is shown to be significantly absorbed upon tight focusing by free-carrier absorption

Interbranch parametric oscillation in the weak coupling regime for semiconductor vertical multimicrocavities

International audienceWe develop a model able to properly describe a new variety of Optical Parametric Oscillations (OPO's) in some recently realized vertical semiconductor multimicrocavities. Our model shows that, contrary to the case of a conventional single microcavity, the OPO can take place even when the system is brought in the weak light-matter coupling. Our predictions agree qualitatively with experiments, they show some OPO con¯gurations which are peculiar of the weak-coupling and suggest some new experiment. The model clearly shows the need to have a better understanding of Optical Parametric Oscillations in this regime

Polariton-polariton interaction potentials determination by pump-probe degenerate scattering in a multiple microcavity

International audienceWe study the polarisation-dependent polariton-polariton interaction through its effect on a parametric scattering process in a microcavity (MC). The ratio of the anti-circular interaction strength V2 over its co-circular counterpart V1 is involved in defining the regime in which many nonlinear processes arise in MCs, such as parametric conversion or condensation. We measure the ratio V2/V1 using a stimulated energy-degenerate parametric scattering process in a multiple MC. The sample is pumped at normal incidence, probed with a non-zero angle, and the phase-matched idler is observed at the opposite angle. The idler behaviour, both in power and polarisation, is compared to a hamiltonian interaction model that takes into account the two polarisation-dependent parametric scattering channels characterized by V1 and V2. The proposed method to measure the ratio V2/V1 is convenient and precise. The flexibility of the triple MC allows to observe the process and measure this ratio over a large range of detunings, where we find it to be highly dependent on the detuning. These measurements complement the previous study of Vladimirova et al. [Phys. Rev. B 82, 075301 (2010)] with an original approach and for detunings that were unexplored up to now

One-dimensional microcavity-based optical parametric oscillator: generation of balanced twin beams in strong and weak coupling regime

International audienceWe report on a detailed experimental investigation of interbranch parametric scattering processes in onedimensional semiconductor microcavities. Band dispersion and corresponding far field emission patterns are studied by polarization resolved and power dependence measurements under resonant and non-resonant excitation at normal incidence. We demonstrate the realization of optical parametric oscillation of balanced twin beams which are degenerate in energy and split in momentum space. This achievement is shown for both the strong and the weak coupling regime highlighting the versatility of this peculiar microcavity system

Discretized disorder in planar semiconductor microcavities: Mosaicity effect on resonant Rayleigh scattering and optical parametric oscillation

International audienceThe features of resonant secondary emission by two-dimensional multiple semiconductor microcavities are experimentally investigated. We show that, under normal laser incidence, static disorder determines the final states of the resonant Rayleigh scattering in the high symmetry axes of the GaAs matrix. Scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals a small dislocation density at the layers interfaces and step formation due to strain accumulation and relaxation ruled by the symmetry of the underlying GaAs matrix: this mosaicity effects, a common feature in thick and strained crystals, determines the scattering channels by selecting the crystallographic discretized directions. Moreover, interband optical parametric oscillation of intensity balanced signal and idler beams takes place in the directions selected by the photonic disorder in the distributed Bragg reflector

Coherent detection of metal-metal terahertz quantum cascade lasers with improved emission characteristics

Coherent detection of emission from quantum cascade lasers with metal-metal waveguides is demonstrated through free-space coupling of a THz pulse to the sub-wavelength waveguide. We implement a simple, monolithic planar horn antenna design on the metal-metal waveguide that reduces the impedance mis-match to the waveguide. The resulting devices show up to 10 times more directed output power than conventional metal-metal waveguides. This enhanced coupling to free-space allows a more efficient injection of broad-band THz pulses into the waveguide. Through this, we are able to seed the laser emission and coherently detect the laser emission by electro-optic sampling

Parametric generation of twin photons in vertical triple microcavities

We report the realization of a monolithic vertical-cavity, surface emitting micro-optical parametric conversion nanostructure, triply resonant with the parametric frequencies, allowing parametric oscillation with ultra-low pump power threshold. The photonic phase-space naturally provides triple resonance for the parametric frequencies, together with built-in cavity phase-matching for the pump wave at normal incidence. Parametric oscillation is observed in both the strong and weak exciton–photon coupling regime, allowing a high operating temperature. Signal and idler beams can be collected at 0° or at finite angles. The OPO threshold is low enough to envisage the realization of an all-semiconductor electrically-pumped micro-parametric oscillator

Measuring the sampling coherence of a terahertz quantum cascade laser

The emission of a quantum cascade laser can be synchronized to the repetition rate of a femtosecond laser through the use of coherent injection seeding. This synchronization defines a sampling coherence between the terahertz laser emission and the femtosecond laser which enables coherent field detection. In this letter the sampling coherence is measured in the time-domain through the use of coherent and incoherent detection. For large seed amplitudes the emission is synchronized, while for small seed amplitudes the emission is non-synchronized. For intermediate seed amplitudes the emission exhibits a partial sampling coherence that is time-dependent