Towards realisation of an efficient continuous wave terahertz source using quantum dot devices

A continuous wave (CW) terahertz source emitting in a broad frequency range (1-5THz) is promising towards achieving a compact, high power, finely tunable, room temperature terahertz generation system which will be of immense significance towards the realisation of terahertz applications in spectroscopy, communication, sensing, and imaging among others. We have demonstrated a tunable continuous-wave Quantum Dot external cavity laser emitting at two frequencies for continuous wave terahertz emission in a Quantum dot Photoconductive Antenna (PCA). The external cavity QD Laser has been characterised with tunability of 152nm and a tuning range from 1143nm -1295.8nm that lies within the THz difference frequency for the generation of THz radiation from QD based PCAs.