Mid-IR interband cascade lasers operating with < 30 mW of input power

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

doi:10.1117/12.918572

17 May 2012 Mid-IR interband cascade lasers operating with < 30 mW of input power

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

Proceedings Volume 8374, Next-Generation Spectroscopic Technologies V; 83740H (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.918572
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2012, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Abstract

The performance of mid-IR interband cascade lasers (ICLs) has been improved by introducing heavier doping into the electron injector regions with the purpose of increasing the electron density in the active region to the level commensurate with the active hole density. For devices emitting at wavelengths in the 3.6-3.9 μm range, the improvements include pulsed room temperature (RT) threshold current density as low as 170 A/cm², maximum cw operating temperature as high as 109 °C, and RT cw input power as low as 29 mW. Epi-down-mounted ridges display RT cw wall-plug efficiencies as high as 14.6% as well as emission of > 200 mW into a nearly diffraction-limited beam. RT cw operation has also been demonstrated for considerably longer wavelengths extending to 5.7 μm with threshold power densities of ≈1kW/cm2, which are an order of magnitude lower than those in state-of-theart quantum cascade lasers. The very low operating powers are expected to lengthen battery lifetimes and greatly relax packaging and size/weight requirements for fielded chemical-sensing systems.

Citation Download Citation

W. W. Bewley, C. D. Merritt, C. S. Kim, M. Kim, C. L. Canedy, I. Vurgaftman, J. Abell, and J. R. Meyer "Mid-IR interband cascade lasers operating with < 30 mW of input power", Proc. SPIE 8374, Next-Generation Spectroscopic Technologies V, 83740H (17 May 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.918572

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