title: Integrated all-optical infrared switchable plasmonic quantum cascade laser.
abstract: We report a type of infrared switchable plasmonic quantum cascade laser, in which far field light in the midwave infrared (MWIR, 6.1 μm) is modulated by a near field interaction of light in the telecommunications wavelength (1.55 μm). To achieve this all-optical switch, we used cross-polarized bowtie antennas and a centrally located germanium nanoslab. The bowtie antenna squeezes the short wavelength light into the gap region, where the germanium is placed. The perturbation of refractive index of the germanium due to the free carrier absorption produced by short wavelength light changes the optical response of the antenna and the entire laser intensity at 6.1 μm significantly. This device shows a viable method to modulate the far field of a laser through a near field interaction.
authors.affiliation: Bio-Inspired Sensors and Optoelectronics Laboratory (BISOL), EECS, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kohoutek
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonakdar
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gelfand
authors.forename: Dibyendu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dey
authors.forename: Iman Hassani
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Nia
authors.forename: Vala
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fathipour
authors.forename: Omer Gokalp
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Memis
authors.forename: Hooman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mohseni
mesh_terms: D007259:Infrared Rays; D007834:Lasers; D011789:Quantum Theory