Power scaling through the broadening of the laser core in Quantum Cascade Lasers can extract greater average power from devices at the cost of mode quality. To improve transverse mode quality for ultrawide (>100 µm) devices, a dual contact strip waveguide geometry is designed and demonstrated, utilizing a reduced top cladding thickness, and modifying the gold electrical epi-side contact to affect mode competition. A 200 µm wide Dual Contact Strip laser emitting at 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLasing is reported for ridge-waveguide devices processed from a 40-stage InP-based quantum cascade laser structure grown on a 6-inch silicon substrate with a metamorphic buffer. The structure used in the proof-of-concept experiment had a typical design, including an AlInAs/InGaAs strain-balanced composition, with high strain both in quantum wells and barriers relative to InP, and an all-InP waveguide with a total thickness of 8 µm. Devices of size 3 mm x 40 µm, with a high-reflection back facet coating, emitted at 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMulti-watt continuous-wave room temperature operation with efficiency exceeding 10% has been demonstrated for quantum cascade lasers essentially in the entire mid-wave and long-wave infrared spectral regions. Along with interband cascade lasers, these devices are the only room-temperature lasers that directly convert electrical power into mid- and long-infrared optical power. In this paper, we review the progress in high-power quantum cascade lasers made over the last 10 years.
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