Terahertz semiconductor laser chaos

Binbin Liu, Carlo Silvestri, Kang Zhou, Xuhong Ma, Shumin Wu, Ziping Li, Wenjian Wan, Zhenzhen Zhang, Ying Zhang, Junsong Peng, Heping Zeng (), Cheng Wang, Massimo Brambilla, Lorenzo Luigi Columbo () and Hua Li ()
Additional contact information
Binbin Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Carlo Silvestri: The University of Sydney
Kang Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xuhong Ma: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shumin Wu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ziping Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wenjian Wan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhenzhen Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ying Zhang: East China Normal University
Junsong Peng: East China Normal University
Heping Zeng: Chongqing Institute of East China Normal University
Cheng Wang: ShanghaiTech University
Massimo Brambilla: Politecnico di Bari e CNR-IFN (UOS Bari)
Lorenzo Luigi Columbo: Politecnico di Torino
Hua Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract In the terahertz (THz) range, due to the lack of effective THz light sources, chaos generation in THz semiconductor lasers, e.g., quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), is particularly challenging. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a THz chaos source based on a sole multimode THz QCL without any external perturbations. Such a dynamical regime is characterized by the largest Lyapunov exponent of the measured radio frequency signal of the laser. The experimental results are confirmed by our simulations based on effective semiconductor Maxwell-Bloch Equations. Furthermore, a reduced model based on two coupled complex Ginzburg-Landau equations is derived to systematically investigate the effects of the linewidth enhancement factor and group velocity dispersion on the chaotic regime. It is found that the chaos generation in the THz QCL is ascribed to the defect-mediated turbulence. Our findings pave the way for the generation of controllable and integrated THz chaos sources, as well as potential applications.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-64921-x

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