Exploiting the optical quadratic nonlinearity of zinc-blende semiconductors for guided-wave terahertz generation: a material comparison
- Autori: Cherchi, M; Taormina, A; Busacca, A; Oliveri, RL; Bivona, S; Cino, AC; Stivala, S; Riva Sanseverino, S; Leone, C
- Anno di pubblicazione: 2010
- Tipologia: Articolo in rivista (Articolo in rivista)
- Parole Chiave: Optical frequency conversion, Optical materials, Optical parametric amplifiers, Optical phase matching, Optical propagation in nonlinear media, Optical pulse generation, Optical waveguides, Frequency conversion, Semiconductor materials, Semiconductor waveguides
- OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/43797
Abstract
We present a detailed analysis and comparison of dielectric waveguides made of CdTe, GaP, GaAs and InP for modal phase matched optical difference frequency generation (DFG) in the terahertz domain. From the form of the DFG equations, we derived the definition of a very general figure of merit (FOM). In turn, this FOM enabled us to compare different configurations, by taking into account linear and nonlinear susceptibility dispersion, terahertz absorption, and a rigorous evaluation of the waveguide modes properties. The most efficient waveguides found with this procedure are predicted to approach the quantum efficiency limit with input optical power in the order of kWs.