Master-oscillator power-amplifier quantum cascade laser array

Rauter, Patrick; Menzel, S.; Goyal, Anish K.; Gökden, Burç; Wang, Christine A.; Sánchez, A.; Turner, G. W.; Capasso, Federico

doi:10.1063/1.4773377

Cited by 31 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…1 (middle panel); cp. also [6]). Such "master-oscillator power-amplifier" (MOPA) configurations have the advantage of being more robust in terms of single-mode emission.…”

mentioning

confidence: 89%

Recent progress on single-mode quantum cascade lasers

Hinkov

Jouy

Hugi

et al. 2013

2013 Conference on Lasers &Amp; Electro-Optics Europe &Amp; International Quantum Electronics Conference CLEO EUROPE/IQEC

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Since the first demonstration of distributed feedback quantum (DFB) quantum cascade (QC) lasers in 1997 [1] tremendous progress has been made in the development of single-mode emitting QC lasers [2][3][4]. Such kind of devices are of particular interest because a lot of different molecules, like CO 2 , N 2 O or CH 4 , have their fundamental modes in the mid-infrared spectral region (3-12 μm).This paper will cover the most recent developments in monolithic, single-mode emitting QC laser sources. A special focus will be put on the following topics: 1 st order DFB QC lasers with very low power dissipation. As can be seen in Fig. 1 (left panel) less than 1 W of power consumption at laser threshold in continuous-wave mode could be realized for temperatures up to 40°C [5]. The optical output power reaches values of up to 18.5 mW at -30°C. Such devices are the key to build compact and portable sensor systems. The concept of low power consumption can moreover be easily transferred to other wavelength ranges.To increase the optical output power of single-mode emitting QC lasers, two-sectional device geometries can be used. One (shorter) section comprises a DFB grating and acts as a single-mode seed. The second (longer) section consists of a simple Fabry-Pérot cavity and amplifies the radiation from the first section. Peak optical output powers higher than 1 W were realized (for preliminary results see Fig. 1 (middle panel); cp. also [6]). Such "master-oscillator power-amplifier" (MOPA) configurations have the advantage of being more robust in terms of single-mode emission. Long (one-sectional) DFB devices with shallow gratings are in contrast more susceptible to mode instabilities due to the weaker grating-coupling. Fig. 1 (left panel)Light-electrical dissipation characteristics of a typical 3 μm wide and 1 mm long low dissipation device in continuous-wave operation. Less than 1 W is dissipated at laser threshold up to 40°C. (middle panel) Light-current characteristics of an uncoated MOPA-device with a peak power of higher than 1 W. (right panel)Twin-DFB spectrum lasing selectively at 1600 cm -1 or 1900 cm -1 or both wavelengths in parallel.The third topic will cover dual-wavelength single-mode emitting QC lasers. These so called twin-DFB devices consist of a dual color active region which is processed into a two-sectional device geometry. Both sections feature a 1 st order DFB grating dedicated to one of the two wavelengths. In contrast to previously demonstrated dual-color DFB QC lasers [7] both parts are electrically separated and can be driven individually. Both wavelengths can selectively be switched on and off while they are both sharing the same spatial origin of radiation. Since no mechanical parts are included, the device can switch very fast between both wavelengths. Typical spectra of such a twin-DFB device are shown in Fig. 1 (right panel).

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“…1 (middle panel); cp. also [6]). Such "master-oscillator power-amplifier" (MOPA) configurations have the advantage of being more robust in terms of single-mode emission.…”

mentioning

confidence: 89%

Recent progress on single-mode quantum cascade lasers

Hinkov

Jouy

Hugi

et al. 2013

2013 Conference on Lasers &Amp; Electro-Optics Europe &Amp; International Quantum Electronics Conference CLEO EUROPE/IQEC

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“…19 Flared, large-aperture (110 lm) MOPAs, while demonstrating near-D.L. peak powers as high as 3.9 W, 20 have no built-in index steps; thus, they are vulnerable to thermal lensing in quasi-CW or CW operation. Y-branch coupled ridge guides 21 (k ¼ 10.8 lm) have demonstrated pulsed, in-phase mode operation, but, due to modal competition, there was no increase in brightness.…”

Section: W Near-diffraction-limited Power From Resonant Leaky-wave Comentioning

confidence: 99%

5.5 W near-diffraction-limited power from resonant leaky-wave coupled phase-locked arrays of quantum cascade lasers

Kirch

Chang

Boyle

et al. 2015

Applied Physics Letters

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Five, 8.36 μm-emitting quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) have been monolithically phase-locked in the in-phase array mode via resonant leaky-wave coupling. The structure is fabricated by etch and regrowth which provides large index steps (Δn = 0.10) between antiguided-array elements and interelement regions. Such high index contrast photonic-crystal (PC) lasers have more than an order of magnitude higher index contrast than PC-distributed feedback lasers previously used for coherent beam combining in QCLs. Absorption loss to metal layers inserted in the interelement regions provides a wide (∼1.0 μm) range in interelement width over which the resonant in-phase mode is strongly favored to lase. Room-temperature, in-phase-mode operation with ∼2.2 kA/cm2 threshold-current density is obtained from 105 μm-wide aperture devices. The far-field beam pattern has lobewidths 1.65× diffraction limit (D.L.) and 82% of the light in the main lobe, up to 1.8× threshold. Peak pulsed near-D.L. power of 5.5 W is obtained, with 4.5 W emitted in the main lobe. Means of how to increase the device internal efficiency are discussed.

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“…The tapered resonant cavity has been widely adopted in near-infrared diodes [5][6][7][8] and midinfrared QCLs [9][10][11][12][13]. The introduction of the tapered region may affect the propagation of the fundamental mode of the light field, threshold current and output power of laser devices.…”

Section: Basic Properties Of a Tapered Thz Qclmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power Amplification and Coherent Combination Techniques for Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers

Xie¹,

Li²,

Wang³

et al. 2017

Quantum Cascade Lasers

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Power amplification and coherent combination are important ways to improve the output power and beam quality of single-mode terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz QCLs). Up to date, the tapered waveguide is the most convenient way to amplify the power of THz QCLs. The self-focusing effect in tapered THz QCLs induces nonmonotonic behaviours of the peak power and far-field beam divergence, which lead to the existence of optimal structural parameters. The surface and lateral grating techniques have also been employed in tapered THz QCLs to further improve the spectral purity. For coherent combinations, the progress of facet-emitting phase-locked arrays of THz QCLs is still limited due to both the lack of the understanding of dynamics of coupled QCLs and the difficulties in designing high-performance coupled waveguides. We will briefly review the developments of coherent arrays of THz QCLs and present a design of monolithic QCL arrays with common coupled cavity to achieve the optical mutual injection, which may provide a new way for coherent combination of THz QCLs.

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Master-oscillator power-amplifier quantum cascade laser array

Cited by 31 publications

References 17 publications

Recent progress on single-mode quantum cascade lasers

Recent progress on single-mode quantum cascade lasers

5.5 W near-diffraction-limited power from resonant leaky-wave coupled phase-locked arrays of quantum cascade lasers

Power Amplification and Coherent Combination Techniques for Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers

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