Continuous wave operation of a mid-infrared semiconductor laser at room temperature.
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.
Beck
Mattias
M
Institute of Physics, University of Neuchâtel, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Mattias.Beck@unine.ch
Hofstetter
Daniel
D
Aellen
Thierry
T
Faist
Jérôme
J
Oesterle
Ursula
U
Ilegems
Marc
M
Gini
Emilio
E
Melchior
Hans
H