Optimization of broad gain and high optical nonlinearity of mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs

Abstract: Mid-infrared Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs) are compact and efficient sources ideal for molecular spectroscopy applications, such as dual-comb spectroscopy. However, despite over a decade of active developments of QCL frequency comb devices, their bandwidth is limited to around $100$ cm$^{-1}$, severely limiting their application for multi-gas, liquid, and solid sensing. Even though very broad gain QCLs have been presented, these were not able to improve the comb bandwidth, whose main limitations are variations of the gain and dispersion with frequency. A perfectly flat gain spectrum would mitigate this, as the dispersion as well as the parametric gain necessary to overcome the losses at gain clamping, vanishes. On the other hand, comb formation rests on four-wave mixing, a third-order nonlinear process, which is very strong in QCLs. Due to the subband nature of these devices, this nonlinearity can be designed and enhanced in order to facilitate comb formation. In this work, we present optimised designs with broad and flat-top gain spectra spanning as much as 220 cm$^{-1}$, as well as up to 30 times stronger FWM nonlinearity than a typical bound-to-continuum QCL design. The optimisation utilises a nonequilibriumn Green's function model with high predictive power, and obeys constraints on gain and current density, ensuring efficient devices. Such high nonlinearity in combination with a moderate, saturable gain, could allow for non-classical light generation in QCLs. On the other hand, doubling the spectral bandwidth of QCL combs would be a large step towards high-speed spectroscopy of complex gas mixtures and liquids.