Our collaborators at JPL presented recent progress in our joint work towards the development of THz QC-VECSELs as stable, high-power, and frequency-agile local oscillators at the 32nd IEEE International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology (ISSTT 2022), held in Baeza Spain. Such local oscillators are key components in the development of next-generation heterodyne receiver instruments, that are desired for understanding star formation processes occurring in the interstellar medium. Of particular importance is our demonstration that QC-VECSELs can be phase-locked to a stable microwave reference, so that the frequency of the laser is precisely known, and can be used to resolve the complicated lineshapes of THz emission sources.
Christopher A. Curwen, Alain Maestrini, Anthony Kim, Sadhvikas J. Addamane, John L. Reno, Boris S. Karasik, Benjamin S. Williams, Jonathan H. Kawamura, “Phase-locking THz QC-VECSEL local oscillators using diode mixers and sources,” 31th IEEE International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology (ISSTT 2022), Baeza, Andalusia (Spain), October 16-20 2022.
Christopher A. Curwen, Daniel P. Cunnane, Jonathan H. Kawamura, Darren J. Hayton, Weibing Yang, Ke Chen, Xiaoxing Xi, Anthony D. Kim, Benjamin S. Williams, Boris S. Karasik, “Towards the THz heterodyne receiver for balloons and SmallSats above 2 THz,” 31th IEEE International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology (ISSTT 2022), Baeza, Andalusia (Spain), October 16-20 2022.
Christopher A. Curwen, Jonathan H. Kawamura, Darren J. Hayton, Sadhvikas J. Addamane, John L. Reno, Benjamin S. Williams, and Boris S. Karasik, “Phase locking of THz QC-VECSELs to a microwave reference,” IEEE Transactions of Terahertz Science and Technology, May 29, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/TTHZ.2023.3280451