An electrically pumped phonon-polariton laser

Sci Adv. 2019 Jul 12;5(7):eaau1632. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aau1632. eCollection 2019 Jul.

Abstract

We report a device that provides coherent emission of phonon polaritons, a mixed state between photons and optical phonons in an ionic crystal. An electrically pumped GaInAs/AlInAs quantum cascade structure provides intersubband gain into the polariton mode at λ = 26.3 μm, allowing self-oscillations close to the longitudinal optical phonon energy of AlAs. Because of the large computed phonon fraction of the polariton of 65%, the emission appears directly on a Raman spectrum measurement, exhibiting a Stokes and anti-Stokes component with the expected shift of 48 meV.