Method for generation of tunable far infrared radiation from two-dimensional plasmons
US4874953A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 6, 1988 |
| Grant date | Oct 17, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 6, 2008 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S5/187
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Tunable far infrared radiation is produced from two-dimensional plasmons in a heterostructure, which provides large inversion-layer electron densities at the heterointerface, without the need for a metallic grating to couple out the radiation. Instead, a light interference pattern is produced on the planar surface of the heterostructure using two coherent laser beams of a wavelength selected to be strongly absorbed by the heterostructure in order to penetrate through the inversion layer. The wavelength of the far infrared radiation coupled out can then be readily tuned by varying the angle between the coherent beams, or varying the wavelength of the two interfering coherent beams, thus varying the periodicity of the photoconductivity grating to vary the wavelength of the far infrared radiation being coupled out.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.