Pushing the performance limits of long wavelength interband cascade lasers using innovative quantum well active regions

Yixuan Shen; J. A. Massengale; Rui Q. Yang; S. D. Hawkins; A. J. Muhowski

doi:10.1063/5.0162500

journal article Jul 24, 2023

Pushing the performance limits of long wavelength interband cascade lasers using innovative quantum well active regions

Yixuan Shen

J. A. Massengale Rui Q. Yang

S. D. Hawkins

A. J. Muhowski

Applied Physics Letters Vol. 123 No. 4 · AIP Publishing

View at Publisher Save 10.1063/5.0162500

Abstract

We report significantly enhanced device performance in long wavelength interband cascade lasers (ICLs) by employing a recently proposed innovative quantum well (QW) active region containing strained InAsP layers. These ICLs were able to operate at wavelengths near 14.4 μm, the longest ever demonstrated for III–V interband lasers, implying great potential of ICLs to cover an even wider wavelength range. Also, by applying the aforesaid QW active region configuration on ICLs at relatively short wavelengths, ICLs were demonstrated at a low threshold current density (e.g., 13 A/cm2 at 80 K) and at temperatures up to 212 K near 12.4 μm, more than 50 K higher than the previously reported ICLs with the standard W-shape QW active region at similar wavelengths. This suggests that the QW active region with InAsP layers can be used to improve device performance at the shorter wavelengths.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

23

[1]

"Infrared laser based on intersubband transitions in quantum wells" Superlattices Microstruct. (1995) 10.1006/spmi.1995.1017

[2]

Baranov "Interband cascade (IC) lasers" (2013)

[3]

Interband cascade lasers

I Vurgaftman, R Weih, M Kamp et al.

Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 2015 10.1088/0022-3727/48/12/123001

[4]

"Mid infrared DFB interband cascade lasers" Proc. SPIE (2017) 10.1117/12.2277698

[5]

"InAs-based interband cascade lasers" IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quant. Electron. (2019) 10.1109/jstqe.2019.2916923

[6]

The Interband Cascade Laser

Jerry Meyer, William Bewley, Chadwick Canedy et al.

Photonics 2020 10.3390/photonics7030075

[7]

"Mitigating valence intersubband absorption in interband cascade lasers" Laser Photonics Rev. (2022) 10.1002/lpor.202200156

[8]

"Pushing the room temperature continuous-wave operation limit of GaSb-based interband cascade lasers beyond 6 μm" Laser Photonics Rev. (2023) 10.1002/lpor.202200587

[9]

"Infrared laser-absorption sensing for combustion gases" Prog. Energy Combust. Sci. (2017) 10.1016/j.pecs.2016.12.002

[10]

"Interband cascade laser arrays for simultaneous and selective analysis of C1–C5 hydrocarbons in petrochemical industry" Appl. Spectrosc. (2021) 10.1177/0003702820978230

[11]

"Interband cascade technology for energy-efficient mid-infrared free-space communication" Photonics Res. (2023) 10.1364/prj.478776

[12]

"InAs-based interband cascade lasers near 6 μm" Electron. Lett. (2009) 10.1049/el:20092779

[13]

"InAs-based interband cascade lasers emitting around 7 μm with threshold current densities below 1 kA/cm2 at room temperature" Appl. Phys. Lett. (2015) 10.1063/1.4907002

[14]

"Type-II quantum-well lasers for the mid-wavelength infrared" Appl. Phys. Lett. (1995) 10.1063/1.115216

[15]

"Wavelength tuning limitations in optically pumped type-II antimonide lasers" Appl. Phys. Lett (2008) 10.1063/1.2904702

[16]

"MBE-grown long-wavelength interband cascade lasers on InAs substrates" J. Cryst. Growth (2015) 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2015.02.016

[17]

"Low-threshold InAs-based interband cascade lasers operating at high temperatures" Appl. Phys. Lett. (2015) 10.1063/1.4922995

[18]

"Enhanced performance of InAs-based interband cascade lasers emitting between 10–13 μm" Semicond. Sci. Technol. (2023) 10.1088/1361-6641/acac4e

[19]

"InAs-based interband cascade lasers with emission wavelengths at 10.4 μm" Electron. Lett. (2012) 10.1049/el.2011.3555

[20]

"Long wavelength interband cascade lasers" Appl. Phys. Lett. (2022) 10.1063/5.0084565

[21]

"Electronic states and interband tunneling conditions in type-II quantum well heterostructures" J. Appl. Phys. (2020) 10.1063/1.5133801

[22]

"Low threshold, long wavelength interband cascade lasers with high voltage efficiencies"

[23]

"Room temperature continuous wave operation of InAs-based quantum cascade lasers at 15 μm" Opt. Express (2016) 10.1364/oe.24.018799

Cited By

37

Exploring Mid-IR FSO Communications With Unipolar Quantum Optoelectronics

Mahdieh Joharifar, Hamza Dely · 2025

Journal of Lightwave Technology

Metrics

37

Citations

23

References

Details

Published: Jul 24, 2023
Vol/Issue: 123(4)

Authors

Y

Yixuan Shen

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma 1 , Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA

J

J. A. Massengale

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma 1 , Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA

R

Rui Q. Yang

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma 1 , Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA

S

S. D. Hawkins

Sandia National Laboratories 2 , P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1085, USA

A

A. J. Muhowski

Sandia National Laboratories 2 , P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1085, USA

Funding

Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems Award: ECCS-1931193

Cite This Article

Yixuan Shen, J. A. Massengale, Rui Q. Yang, et al. (2023). Pushing the performance limits of long wavelength interband cascade lasers using innovative quantum well active regions. Applied Physics Letters, 123(4). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0162500

Pushing the performance limits of long wavelength interband cascade lasers using innovative quantum well active regions

You May Also Like