ABSTRACT
We demonstrate the phase locking of a 2.7 THz metal-metal waveguide quantum cascade laser (QCL) to an external microwave signal. The reference is the 15th harmonic, generated by a semiconductor superlattice nonlinear device, of a signal at 182 GHz, which itself is generated by a multiplier chain (x12) from a microwave synthesizer at approximately 15 GHz. Both laser and reference radiations are coupled into a bolometer mixer, resulting in a beat signal, which is fed into a phase-lock loop. The spectral analysis of the beat signal confirms that the QCL is phase locked. This result opens the possibility to extend heterodyne interferometers into the far-infrared range.
ABSTRACT
Frequency multipliers based on superlattice (SL) devices as nonlinear elements have been developed as radiation sources for a terahertz (THz) laboratory spectrometer. Input frequencies of 100 and 250 GHz from backward wave oscillators have been multiplied up to the 11th harmonic, producing usable frequencies up to 2.7 THz. Even at these high frequencies the output power is sufficient for laboratory spectroscopy. Comparisons to conventional high-resolution microwave spectroscopy methods reveal several superior features of this new device such as very high line frequency accuracies, broadband tunability, high output power levels at odd harmonics of the input frequency up to high orders, and a robust applicability.
