title: Continuous-wave interband cascade lasers operating above room temperature at λ = 4.7-5.6 μm.
abstract: We have substantially improved the performance of interband cascade lasers emitting at λ = 4.7 and 5.6 μm, by applying the recently-pioneered approach of heavily doping the injector regions to rebalance the electron and hole concentrations in the active quantum wells. Ridges of ≈10 μm width, 4 mm length, and high-reflectivity back facets achieve maximum continuous wave operating temperatures of 60°C and 48°C, respectively. The threshold power density of ≈1 kW/cm2 at T = 25°C is over an order of magnitude lower than for state-of-the-art quantum cascade lasers emitting in this spectral range.
authors.affiliation: Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA.
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Bewley
authors.forename: Chadwick L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Canedy
authors.forename: Chul Soo
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Mijin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Charles D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Merritt
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abell
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vurgaftman
authors.forename: Jerry R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007834:Lasers; D013696:Temperature