Millimeter Wave Photonics with Terahertz Semiconductor Lasers

Millimeter wave (mmWave) generation using photonic techniques has so far been limited to the use of near-infrared lasers that are down-converted to the mmWave region. However, such methodologies do not currently benefit from a monolithic architecture and suffer from the quantum defect. Here we show how miniaturized terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) can open up the possibility of innovatively integrating both laser action and mmWave generation in a single device. We demonstrate intracavity mmWave generation within THz QCLs over the unprecedented range of 25 GHz to 500 GHz using their inherent giant nonlinearities.