Efficient terahertz emission from ballistic transport enhanced n-i-p-n-i-p superlattice photomixers
- 21 May 2007
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 90 (21)
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2743400
Abstract
The authors report on photomixing terahertz sources that overcome the transit time versus RC-time trade-off and allow for independent optimization of both of them, using a n-i-p-n-i-p superlattice. Furthermore, they take advantage of ballistic transport for reduced transit times. Apart from more favorable material parameters, In(Al)GaAs photomixers benefit from the advanced telecommunication laser technology around 1.55 mu m as compared to GaAs. In such devices, a terahertz-power output of 1 mu W has been achieved at 0.4 THz at a photocurrent of 3.8 mA. A comparison between corresponding GaAs- and InGaAs-based n-i-p-n-i-p photomixers reveals an improvement of performance by at least an order of magnitude for the latter one. (c) 2007 American Institute of PhysicsKeywords
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