Interband cascade lasers with CW wallplug efficiency higher than 40% at low temperatures

C. D. Merritt; W. W. Bewley; C. L. Canedy; C. S. Kim; M. Kim; I. Vurgaftman; J. R. Meyer

doi:10.1117/12.2209388

13 February 2016 Interband cascade lasers with CW wallplug efficiency higher than 40% at low temperatures

C. D. Merritt, W. W. Bewley, C. L. Canedy, C. S. Kim, M. Kim, I. Vurgaftman, J. R. Meyer

Proceedings Volume 9755, Quantum Sensing and Nano Electronics and Photonics XIII; 97550G (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2209388
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2016, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

We report cw wallplug efficiencies (WPEs) for mid-infrared interband cascade lasers (ICLs) that are comparable to those of state-of-the-art quantum cascade lasers at temperatures ranging from the cryogenic regime to room temperature. The continuous wave (cw) WPE for 10-stage broad-area devices remains above 40% for temperatures up to 125 K, and is still <30% at T = 175 K. At 80 K the threshold current density for a 2-mm-long cavity is only 11 A/cm², and slope efficiencies are < 2.2 W/A at all temperatures ≤ 200 K. A 32-μm-wide × 3-mm-long ridge with 7 active stages and high-reflection and anti-reflection coatings on the two facets displays a cw WPE of 24% at T = 200 K and 12% at T = 300 K. The cw WPE of another narrow-ridge ICL was 18% at room temperature.

Citation Download Citation

C. D. Merritt, W. W. Bewley, C. L. Canedy, C. S. Kim, M. Kim, I. Vurgaftman, and J. R. Meyer "Interband cascade lasers with CW wallplug efficiency higher than 40% at low temperatures", Proc. SPIE 9755, Quantum Sensing and Nano Electronics and Photonics XIII, 97550G (13 February 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2209388

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