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ABSTRACT Esaki and Tsu’s superlattice1, made by alternating two different semiconductor materials, was the first one-dimensional artificial crystal that demonstrated the ability to tailor

semiconductor properties. One motivation of this work was the realization of the Bloch oscillator2,3 and the use of its particular dispersive optical gain4,5 to achieve a tuneable source of

electromagnetic radiation. However, these superlattices were electrically unstable in the steady state6. Fortunately, because it is based on scattering-assisted transitions, this particular

gain does not arise only in superlattices, but also more generally in semiconductor heterostructures7,8 such as quantum cascade lasers9 (QCLs), where the electrical stability can be

controlled10. Here, we show the unambiguous spectral signature of Bloch gain in a special QCL designed to enhance the latter by exhibiting laser action in the condition of weak to vanishing

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Quantum Photonics. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * Romain Terazzi and Tobias Gresch: These authors contributed equally to this work AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Institute of Physics,

University of Neuchâtel, A.-L. Breguet 1, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland Romain Terazzi, Tobias Gresch, Marcella Giovannini, Nicolas Hoyler & Jérôme Faist * Institute of Industrial Science,

University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Meguro-ku, Komaba, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan Norihiko Sekine Authors * Romain Terazzi View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar * Tobias Gresch View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Marcella Giovannini View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar * Nicolas Hoyler View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Norihiko Sekine View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jérôme Faist View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS The structures were designed

by J.F. and grown by M.G. and N.H. using molecular beam epitaxy. T.G. fabricated the samples, worked on the measurement technique and measured the samples together with N.S. The theoretical

work and the gain calculations were done by R.T. who also wrote the manuscript together with J.F., the head of the group in which the work was carried out. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

Correspondence to Romain Terazzi. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION (PDF 232

KB) RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Terazzi, R., Gresch, T., Giovannini, M. _et al._ Bloch gain in quantum cascade lasers. _Nature Phys_

3, 329–333 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys577 Download citation * Received: 26 September 2006 * Accepted: 24 January 2007 * Published: 01 April 2007 * Issue Date: May 2007 * DOI:

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