Theory of the Intrinsic Linewidth of Quantum-Cascade Lasers: Hidden Reason for the Narrow Linewidth and Line-Broadening by Thermal Photons

Yamanishi, Masamichi; Edamura, Tadataka; Fujita, Kazuue; Akikusa, Naota; Kan, Hirofumi

doi:10.1109/jqe.2007.907563

Cited by 110 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The short non-radiative lifetime that dominates the threshold of the QCL also appears to have the beneficial effect of significantly reducing the spectral width 27,28 . Although distributed-feedback lasers processed from ICL wafers using earlier-generation designs have produced 29 mW or more of singlemode CW output at thermoelectric cooler temperatures 29 , the true spectral linewidth of the distributed-feedback ICLs has not been measured to date, although spectrometer-resolution-limited lines have been observed 29 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rebalancing of internally generated carriers for mid-infrared interband cascade lasers with very low power consumption

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The interband cascade laser differs from any other class of semiconductor laser, conventional or cascaded, in that most of the carriers producing population inversion are generated internally, at semimetallic interfaces within each stage of the active region. Here we present simulations demonstrating that all previous interband cascade laser performance has suffered from a significant imbalance of electron and hole densities in the active wells. We further confirm experimentally that correcting this imbalance with relatively heavy n-type doping in the electron injectors substantially reduces the threshold current and power densities relative to all earlier devices. At room temperature, the redesigned devices require nearly two orders of magnitude less input power to operate in continuous-wave mode than the quantum cascade laser. The interband cascade laser is consequently the most attractive option for gas sensing and other spectroscopic applications requiring low output power and minimum heat dissipation at wavelengths extending from 3 µm to beyond 6 µm.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rebalancing of internally generated carriers for mid-infrared interband cascade lasers with very low power consumption

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…QCLs have a narrow intrinsic linewidth arising from their close-to-zero α-factor [9] (linewidth enhancement factor [10]) and more profoundly from a stable single mode operation at high power levels with recourse to the presence of very fast non-radiative relaxation processes [11]. However, the linewidth observed in real-world applications is much broader because of the presence of 1/f (flicker) noise.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature dependence of the frequency noise in a mid-IR DFB quantum cascade laser from cryogenic to room temperature

Tombez¹,

Schilt²,

Francesco³

et al. 2012

Opt. Express

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:We report on the measurement of the frequency noise power spectral density in a distributed feedback quantum cascade laser over a wide temperature range, from 128 K to 303 K. As a function of the device temperature, we show that the frequency noise behavior is characterized by two different regimes separated by a steep transition at ≈200 K. While the frequency noise is nearly unchanged above 200 K, it drastically increases at lower temperature with an exponential dependence. We also show that this increase is entirely induced by current noise intrinsic to the device. In contrast to earlier publications, a single laser is used here in a wide temperature range allowing the direct assessment of the temperature dependence of the frequency noise. Baillargeon, and A. Y. Cho, "Rapid-scan Doppler-limited absorption spectroscopy using mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers," Proc. SPIE 3758, 23-33 (1999). 4. T. L.

show abstract

“…Advances in investigation and narrowing of laser linewidth have experienced a remarkable evolution, yielding techniques that give us unprecedented control over the optical phase/frequency [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. The spectral properties of such lasers can be conveniently described either in terms of their optical line shape and associated linewidth or in terms of the power spectral density of their frequency noise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simple approach to the relation between laser frequency noise and laser line shape

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Frequency fluctuations of lasers cause a broadening of their line shapes. Although the relation between the frequency noise spectrum and the laser line shape has been studied extensively, no simple expression exists to evaluate the laser linewidth for frequency noise spectra that does not follow a power law. We present a simple approach to this relation with an approximate formula for evaluation of the laser linewidth that can be applied to arbitrary noise spectral densities.

show abstract

Theory of the Intrinsic Linewidth of Quantum-Cascade Lasers: Hidden Reason for the Narrow Linewidth and Line-Broadening by Thermal Photons

Cited by 110 publications

References 36 publications

Rebalancing of internally generated carriers for mid-infrared interband cascade lasers with very low power consumption

Rebalancing of internally generated carriers for mid-infrared interband cascade lasers with very low power consumption

Temperature dependence of the frequency noise in a mid-IR DFB quantum cascade laser from cryogenic to room temperature

Simple approach to the relation between laser frequency noise and laser line shape

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About