Description:
Advances in epitaxial growth and nanofabrication technology in the past several years have made it possible to engineer sophisticated semiconductor quantum devices with unprecedented control of their electronic and optical properties. A particularly important class of such devices is based on intersubband transitions, i.e. optical transitions between quantized electronic states in semiconductor heterostructures. Most notably, mid-infrared quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) and quantum cascade lasers nowadays offer superior performance for applications such as thermal imaging, spectroscopy, and biochemical sensing, and have recently become commercially available. Intersubband devices also have the potential for a revolutionary impact in the fields of silicon photonics, terahertz sensing, and ultra-high-bandwidth fiber-optic communications, and extensive research is ongoing to fulfill this promise. Joined by an international group of world experts, Paiella describes the basic device physics and applications of intersubband transitions, as well as the more recent and important developments in this exciting area of semiconductor nanotechnology.
Contents:
Chapter 1. Quantum Cascade Lasers: Overview of Basic Principles of Operation and State of the Art
Chapter 2. Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers 
Chapter 3. High-Speed Operation and Ultrafast Pulse Generation with Quantum Cascade Lasers
Chapter 4. Ultrafast Dynamics of Intersubband Excitations in Quantum Wells and Quantum Cascade Structures
Chapter 5. Optical Nonlinearities in Intersubband Transitions and Quantum Cascade Lasers
Chapter 6. Raman Injection and Inversionless Intersubband
Chapter 7. Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector ? High Absorption and High Speed Properties, and Two-Photon Response
Chapter 8. Intersubband Transitions in Quantum
Chapter 9. Intersubband Transitions in Si/SiGe Heterojunctions, Quantum Dots and Quantum
Chapter 10. All-Optical Modulation and Switching in the Communication Wavelength Regime Using Intersubband Transitions in InGaAs/AlAsSb Heterostructures
Index