Interferometric measurement of far infrared plasmons via resonant homodyne mixing.

We present an electrically tunable terahertz two dimensional plasmonic interferometer with an integrated detection element that down converts the terahertz fields to a DC signal. The integrated detector utilizes a resonant plasmonic homodyne mixing mechanism that measures the component of the plasma waves in-phase with an excitation field functioning as the local oscillator. Plasmonic interferometers with two independently tuned paths are studied.

Rectified diode response of a multimode quantum cascade laser integrated terahertz transceiver.

We characterized the DC transport response of a diode embedded in a THz quantum cascade laser as the laser current was changed. The overall response is described by parallel contributions from the rectification of the laser field due to the non-linearity of the diode I-V and from thermally activated transport. Sudden jumps in the diode response when the laser changes from single mode to multi-mode operation, with no corresponding jumps in output power, suggest that the coupling between the diode and laser field depends on the spatial distribution of internal fields.