Optical-pumping injection cavity (OPIC) mid-IR "W" lasers with high efficiency and low loss

High-brightness mid-infrared photonic-crystal distributed-feedback lasers

“…The poorer beam quality and spectral properties of mid-IR -DFBs relative to near-IR and visible devices with comparable stripe widths (%100 mm) are attributable to a substantially higher product of the LEF and the threshold gain, which represents the main figure of merit governing the breakdown of lateral optical coherence. This interpretation is consistent with recent findings that fits to the far-field emission characteristics of mid-IR -DFB lasers indicate larger-than-expected LEFs on the order of 4 [12], and also that the internal loss associated with intervalence absorption also tends to be much higher than at shorter wavelengths [24][25][26]. Although a mid-IR PCDFB must overcome this same unfavourable figure of merit, it will be seen that its superior optical coherence, induced by the resonant diffractive coupling, leads to substantial improvements in both the spectral properties and beam quality relative to the -DFB, whose beam quality was already far superior to that of a conventional Fabry-Pe´rot device.…”

Mid-IR interband cascade lasers: progress toward high performance

“…3, by assuming two identical facets; the maximum efficiency value is ~10% at 80 K. This value is comparable to the best values obtained for optically pumped mid-IR lasers [19][20] and intersubband QC lasers [21][22]. High differential power efficiencies (~12% per facet at 78 K) were recently observed in an optically pumped mid-IR (~3.3-3.7 µm) laser that employed GaSb/AlAsSb distributed Bragg reflectors with an optical pumping cavity [23].…”

Resonantly pumped optical pumping injection cavity lasers

“…This results in less free-carrier absorption of the mid-IR lasing beam by photo-injected carriers. 7,13 It should be further noted with a view toward future work that if the barriers between the QW periods are replaced by GaInAsSb absorbing layers, the hybrid OPIC/IA geometry would combine the advantages of both and allow a further reduction in the number of active QWs.…”

“…Another successful approach has been the optical pumping injection cavity (OPIC) laser, 12,13 in which the active region is enclosed between two GaSb/ AlAsSb-distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors that induce multiple passes of the pump beam. A schematic is shown in Fig.…”