Purcell enhancement of spontaneous emission from quantum cascades inside mirror-grating metal cavities at THz frequencies.

Quantum cascade devices processed into double metal cavities with subwavelength thickness and a grating on top are studied at terahertz frequencies. The power extracted from the devices as a function of the device thickness and the grating period is analyzed owing to electrodynamical modeling of dipole emission based on a modal method in multilayer systems. The experimental data thus reveal a strong Purcell enhancement, with Purcell factors up to approximately 50.