Robert Weih

Interband cascade lasers with room temperature threshold current densities below 100 A/cm2

Interband Cascade Lasers (ICLs) with threshold current densities below 100 A/cm2 in pulsed operation at room temperature are presented. The laser structure comprises 10 active stages of 41 nm length, each stage containing a W-quantum well active region for emission in the spectral region around 3.6 μm. A comparison of devices with 6 and 10 stages shows that the latter have a reduced threshold due to an increased optical confinement factor, very competitive threshold power densities of 428 W cm−2 despite an increased threshold voltage and large differential slope efficiencies of 1390 mW/A. For a narrow ridge device, continuous wave operation is observed up to 65 °C.

Sensing of formaldehyde using a distributed feedback interband cascade laser emitting around 3493 nm.

We have demonstrated sensing of formaldehyde (H(2)CO) using a room-temperature distributed feedback interband cascade laser (ICL) emitting around 3493 nm. The ICL has been characterized and proved to be very suitable for tunable laser spectroscopy (TLS). The H(2)CO TLS spectra were recorded in direct absorption mode and showed excellent agreement with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory database. The measurements reported here were taken from a series of measurements of a mixture of H(2)CO in air obtained by vaporizing a solution also containing methanol and formic acid. We obtained a resolution limit better than 1 ppm × m assuming a relative absorption of 10(-3).

Monomode Interband Cascade Lasers at 5.2

We demonstrate application-grade monomode distributed feedback (DFB) laser devices with emission wavelength around 5.2 μm; suitable for nitric oxide sensing. The devices are based on interband cascade laser material that enables continuous wave operation in the midinfrared spectral region when mounted on a standard thermoelectrically cooled TO-style header. With etched vertical sidewall DFB gratings as wavelength selective elements, signal to noise ratios around 30 dB and typical tuning ranges greater than 12 nm were achieved, making the devices suitable for applications based on tunable laser absorption spectroscopy.

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Single mode distributed feedback (DFB) interband cascade lasers were realized by placing metal gratings laterally to dry etched ridges. A discrete tuning range of 104 nm could be realized on the same gain material by a variation of the grating period. At room temperature, a 2.4 mm long and 9.8 μm wide ridge with as-cleaved facets emitted more than 6 mW of single mode output power in continuous-wave (cw) mode at a wavelength around 3.8 μm. With typical temperature- and current-tuning rates of 0.31 nm/ °C and 0.065 nm/mA, respectively, a total tuning bandwidth of more than 10 nm could be covered with a single device.

for Nitric Oxide Sensing

Interband cascade lasers are promising candidates to cover a wide spectral range in the mid infrared spectral region with high performance devices. In this paper, we report on lasers where the cladding layers consist of quaternary bulk material (AlGaAsSb) instead of InAs/AlSb superlattices. The bulk claddings provide efficient mode confinement due to their low refractive index, comparable heat conductivity and a reduced current spreading. Broad area devices fabricated from laser layers with 5 cascades showed threshold current densities of 220 A/cm2 and narrow ridges operated up to 45 °C in continuous wave mode.

Single mode interband cascade lasers based on lateral metal gratings

In this Letter, we demonstrate the self-mixing effect in an interband cascade laser. We show that a viable self-mixing signal can be acquired through the variation in voltage across the laser terminals, thereby removing the need for an external detector. Using this interferometric technique, we have measured the displacement of a remote target, and also demonstrated high resolution imaging of a target. The proposed scheme represents a highly sensitive, compact, and self-aligned sensing technique with potential for materials analysis in the mid-infrared.

Interband cascade lasers with AlGaAsSb bulk cladding layers

In this work, single-mode distributed feedback (DFB) interband cascade laser (ICL) devices with record short wavelength emission below 2.8 μm are presented. Pulsed measurements based on broad area laser devices with a cavity of 2 mm length and 150 μm width showed threshold current densities of 383 A/cm2 at T = 20 °C and a characteristic temperature T0 of 67 K. Fabricated DFB devices were operated in continuous wave mode at room temperature, with threshold currents of 57 mA and demonstrated side mode suppression ratios of larger than 25 dB. The devices showed current tuning ranges of 7 nm and total (including drive current and temperature) tuning ranges of 12 nm, with respective tuning rates of 21 nm/W, 0.13 nm/mA and 0.29 nm/K. Using the full spectral gain bandwidth of the underlying ICL material, single-mode DFB emission was observed within a wavelength range of 150 nm utilizing different DFB grating periods.

Demonstration of the self-mixing effect in interband cascade lasers

Optical properties of molecular beam epitaxially grown type II “W” shaped GaSb/AlSb/InAs/GaIn(As)Sb/InAs/AlSb/GaSb quantum wells (QWs) designed for the active region of interband cascade lasers have been investigated. Temperature dependence of Fourier-transformed photoluminescence and photoreflectance was employed to probe the effects of addition of arsenic into the original ternary valence band well of GaInSb. It is revealed that adding arsenic provides an additional degree of freedom in terms of band alignment and strain tailoring and allows enhancing the oscillator strength of the active type II transition. On the other hand, however, arsenic incorporation apparently also affects the structural and optical material quality via generating carrier trapping states at the interfaces, which can deteriorate the radiative efficiency. These have been evidenced in several spectroscopic features and are also confirmed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy images. While arsenic incorporation into type II QWs is a powerful heterostructure engineering tool for optoelectronic devices, a compromise has to be found between ideal band structure properties and high quality morphological properties.

Single-mode interband cascade lasers emitting below 2.8 μm

We present room temperature resonant tunneling of GaSb/AlAsSb double barrier resonant tunneling diodes with pseudomorphically grown prewell emitter structures comprising the ternary compound semiconductors GaInSb and GaAsSb. At room temperature, resonant tunneling is absent for diode structures without prewell emitters. The incorporation of Ga0.84In0.16Sb and GaAs0.05Sb0.95 prewell emitters leads to room temperature resonant tunneling with peak-to-valley current ratios of 1.45 and 1.36, respectively. The room temperature operation is attributed to the enhanced Γ-L-valley energy separation and consequently depopulation of L-valley states in the conduction band of the ternary compound emitter prewell with respect to bulk GaSb.

Effect of arsenic on the optical properties of GaSb-based type II quantum wells with quaternary GaInAsSb layers

Optical properties of modified type II W-shaped quantum wells have been investigated with the aim to be utilized in interband cascade lasers. The results show that introducing a tensely strained GaAsSb layer, instead of a commonly used compressively strained GaInSb, allows employing the active transition involving valence band states with a significant admixture of the light holes. Theoretical predictions of multiband k·p theory have been experimentally verified by using photoluminescence and polarization dependent photoreflectance measurements. These results open a pathway for practical realization of mid-infrared lasing devices with uncommon polarization properties including, for instance, polarization-independent midinfrared light emitters.