Terahertz photomixing in quantum well structures using resonant excitation of plasma oscillations

Abstract

We demonstrated that modulated infrared radiation can cause the resonant excitation of plasma oscillations in quantum well diode and transistor structures with high electron mobility. This effect provides a new mechanism for the generation of tunable terahertz radiation using photomixing of infrared signals. We developed a device model for a quantum well photomixer and calculated its high-frequency performance. It was shown that the proposed device can significantly surpass photomixers utilizing standard quantum well infrared photodetectors. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.