title: Continuous wave operation of a mid-infrared semiconductor laser at room temperature.
abstract: Continuous wave operation of quantum cascade lasers is reported up to a temperature of 312 kelvin. The devices were fabricated as buried heterostructure lasers with high-reflection coatings on both laser facets, resulting in continuous wave operation with optical output power ranging from 17 milliwatts at 292 kelvin to 3 milliwatts at 312 kelvin, at an emission wavelength of 9.1 micrometers. The results demonstrate the potential of quantum cascade lasers as continuous wave mid-infrared light sources for high-resolution spectroscopy, chemical sensing applications, and free-space optical communication systems.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Mattias.Beck@unine.ch
authors.forename: Mattias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hofstetter
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aellen
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Faist
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Oesterle
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilegems
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gini
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Melchior