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 milliwa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2002-01, Vol.295 (5553), p.301-305
Main Authors: Beck, Mattias, Hofstetter, Daniel, Aellen, Thierry, Faist, Jérôme, Oesterle, Ursula, Ilegems, Marc, Gini, Emilio, Melchior, Hans
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Continuous operation
Current density
Electric current
Electrons
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Heat sinks
Laser optical systems: design and operation
Laser power
Lasers
Optics
Phonons
Physics
Room temperature
Semiconductor lasers
Semiconductor lasers
laser diodes
Temperature dependence
Threshold currents
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1066408