Mid-IR interband cascade lasers operating at very low input powers

C. S. Kim; M. Kim; C. L. Canedy; W. W. Bewley; C. D. Merritt; I. Vurgaftman; J. Abell; J. R. Meyer

doi:10.1117/12.914453

8 February 2012 Mid-IR interband cascade lasers operating at very low input powers

C. S. Kim, M. Kim, C. L. Canedy, W. W. Bewley, C. D. Merritt, I. Vurgaftman, J. Abell, J. R. Meyer

Proceedings Volume 8277, Novel In-Plane Semiconductor Lasers XI; 82771D (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.914453
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2012, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Our simulations find that the active quantum wells in previous mid-IR interband cascade laser (ICL) designs have invariably contained far more holes than electrons. Further modeling shows that the carrier populations can be rebalanced by heavily doping the electron injector regions to levels more than an order of magnitude higher than in any earlier devices. The experimental implementation of this strategy has dramatically improved nearly all ICL performance characteristics. For devices emitting at wavelengths in the 3.6-3.9 μm range, this includes pulsed room temperature (RT) threshold current density as low as 170 A/cm², maximum cw operating temperature as high as 109 °C, RT cw output power as high as 159 mW, RT cw wallplug efficiency as high as 13.5%, and RT cw input power as low as 29 mW. We also demonstrate RT cw operation to wavelengths as long as 5.7 μm. The extremely low input power to reach threshold, which is more than 25 times lower than the best ever reported for a quantum cascade laser, will strongly impact battery lifetimes and other system requirements in fielded chemical sensing applications.

Citation Download Citation

C. S. Kim, M. Kim, C. L. Canedy, W. W. Bewley, C. D. Merritt, I. Vurgaftman, J. Abell, and J. R. Meyer "Mid-IR interband cascade lasers operating at very low input powers", Proc. SPIE 8277, Novel In-Plane Semiconductor Lasers XI, 82771D (8 February 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.914453

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available