Interband cascade lasers with >40% continuous-wave wallplug efficiency at cryogenic temperatures
Abstract
Broad-area 10-stage interband cascade lasers (ICLs) emitting at λ = 3.0–3.2 μm are shown to maintain continuous-wave (cw) wallplug efficiencies exceeding 40% at temperatures up to 125 K, despite having a design optimized for operation at ambient and above. The cw threshold current density at 80 K is only 11 A/cm2 for a 2 mm cavity with anti-reflection/high-reflection coatings on the two facets. The external differential quantum efficiency for a 1-mm-long cavity with the same coatings is 70% per stage at 80 K, and still above 65% at 150 K. The results demonstrate that at cryogenic temperatures, where free carrier absorption losses are minimized, ICLs can convert electrical to optical energy nearly as efficiently as the best specially designed intersubband-based quantum cascade lasers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 21, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4931498
Entities
People
- C. D. Merritt
- C. L. Canedy
- Chul Soo Kim
- I. Vurgaftman
- J. R. Meyer
- Min Suk Kim
- W. W. Bewley
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Naval Research Laboratory