Concept of internal mixing in semiconductor lasers and optical amplifiers for room-temperature generation of tunable continuous terahertz waves

We discuss the potential for creating a room-temperature tunable continuous-wave terahertz source based on nonlinear mixing within the active medium of either a dual-color high-power semiconductor laser or a laser amplifier, preferably operating at telecom wavelengths. By minimization of the terahertz waveguide losses and by enhancement of the second-order nonlinearity of the active media, our simulations indicate that one can expect the output power to reach at least 20 muW at an infrared radiation power of 100 mW per color.