Mid-IR type-II interband cascade lasers and their applications

Abstract

hv hv hv hv hv hv hv Cascading hv k interband transition E Fig.1. Illustration of the interband cascade laser ABSTRACTType-II interband cascade lasers are efficient and compact mid-infrared (3-5 µm) light sources with many applications such as gas sensing and environmental monitoring. Significant progress toward such a goal has recently been made in terms of achieving low threshold current densities (e.g. ~8 A/cm 2 at 80 K), high temperature operation (e.g. 325 K in pulsed and 217 K in cw modes), and continuous wave operation of single-mode distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. These DFB lasers have been integrated into laboratory spectrometers for detection of gases such as CH 4 and HCl. One laser was flown on a high-altitude balloon instrument and measured HCl profiles in the stratosphere as part of Aura satellite instrument validation. We review the recent progress of Sb-based mid-IR IC lasers and address the requirements for further improvements in their performance.

Broadly tunable and multi-spectral mid-IR semiconductor lasers and applications

“…This work investigated various options for M/LWIR tunable lasers; and desirable performance such as single-mode with high SMSR, continuous tuning, and maximum tuning range (limited only by the device gain band) were all shown achievable. There has been significant recent progress and maturity for M/LWIR semiconductors with regard to materials and devices [9][10][11][12][13]. The next stage of development is system-integrable components and modules with higher functionality, similarly to the development of 1.5-m products.…”