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All-optical wavelength shifting in a semiconductor laser using resonant nonlinearities

Nature Photonics volume 6, pages 519–524 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

For future ultrafast all-optical networks, new optical devices are required that can directly manipulate communication channels and shift their wavelength over the bandwidth of an optical fibre (50 THz)1,2. Solutions based on nonlinear processes have been proposed, but these suffer from having only low efficiencies as a result of low nonlinear susceptibilities3. Here, we demonstrate all-optical wavelength conversion of a near-infrared beam using a resonant nonlinear process within a terahertz quantum cascade laser4. The process is based on injecting a low-power continuous-wave near-infrared beam in resonance with the interband transitions of the quantum cascade laser. This results in an enhanced nonlinearity that allows efficient generation of the difference and sum frequency, shifting the frequency of the near-infrared beam by the frequency of the quantum cascade laser. Efficiencies of 0.13% are demonstrated, which are equivalent to those obtained using free electron lasers. As well as having important implications in its application in ultrafast wavelength shifting, this work also opens up the possibility of efficiently upconverting terahertz radiation to the near-infrared and enables the study of high terahertz–optical field interactions with quantum structures using quantum cascade lasers.

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Figure 1: Scheme principle and optical modes.
Figure 2: Wavelength shifting using interband excitation.
Figure 3: Resonant behaviour and polarization effect of the NIR pump.
Figure 4: Confined states involved in resonant nonlinear interaction.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Programme Francilien de Recherche en Nanosciences (CNano-IDF, contract TeraConversion) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR, contract no. HI-TEQ ANR-09-NANO-017). J.R.F. acknowledges funding from the Marie Curie Action fellowship (grant no. 274602). J.M. acknowledges funding from the French Ministry of Defense (DGA). Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain (LPA) is a Unité Mixte de Recherche Associée à l'ENS, of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR8551 and of Universités Paris 6 and 7. Device fabrication was performed at the nanocentre La Centrale de Technologie Universitaire (CTU-IEF-Minerve), which is partially funded by the Conseil General de l'Essonne.

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  1. Nathan Jukam

    Present address: Present address: Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UMR 8551 CNRS, Université P. et M. Curie, Université D. Diderot, 24 rue Lhomond, Paris, 75005, France

    Julien Madéo, Pierrick Cavalié, Joshua R. Freeman, Nathan Jukam, Jean Maysonnave, Kenneth Maussang, Jérôme Tignon & Sukhdeep S. Dhillon

  2. Semiconductor Physics Group, University of Cambridge, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK

    Harvey. E. Beere & David A. Ritchie

  3. Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Université Denis Diderot–Paris 7, UMR 7162 CNRS, Paris, 75013, France

    Carlo Sirtori

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Contributions

J.M. and P.C. set up the experiment, acquired the experimental data and contributed equally to the work. S.S.D. conceived the experimental concept. Photoluminescence measurements were taken by J.R.F., K.M. and P.C. Sample growth was performed by H.E.B. and D.A.R. The manuscript was written and the data interpreted by J.M., P.C., J.R.F., N.J., J.M., J.T., C.S. and S.S.D. C.S. provided insight and interpretation of the nonlinear properties of QCLs. All work was coordinated and overseen by J.T. and S.S.D.

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Correspondence to Sukhdeep S. Dhillon.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Madéo, J., Cavalié, P., Freeman, J. et al. All-optical wavelength shifting in a semiconductor laser using resonant nonlinearities. Nature Photon 6, 519–524 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.157

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