Short pulse generation from a graphene-coupled passively mode-locked terahertz laser

The generation of stable trains of ultrashort (femtosecond to picosecond), terahertz-frequency radiation pulses with large instantaneous intensities is an underlying requirement for the investigation of light–matter interactions for metrology and ultrahigh-speed communications. In solid-state electrically pumped lasers, the primary route to generate short pulses is through passive mode-locking; however, this has not yet been achieved in the terahertz range, defining one of the longest standing goals over the past two decades. In fact, the realization of passive mode-locking has long been assumed to be inherently hindered by the fast recovery times associated with the intersubband gain of terahertz lasers. Here we demonstrate a self-starting miniaturized short pulse terahertz laser, exploiting an original device architecture that includes the surface patterning of multilayer-graphene saturable absorbers distributed along the entire cavity of a double-metal semiconductor 2.30–3.55 THz wire laser. Self-starting pulsed emission with 4.0-ps-long pulses is demonstrated in a compact, all-electronic, all-passive and inexpensive configuration.