Broad area quantum cascade lasers(BA QCLs)have significant applications in many areas,but suffer from demanding pulse operating conditions and poor beam quality due to heat accumulation and generation of high order mo...Broad area quantum cascade lasers(BA QCLs)have significant applications in many areas,but suffer from demanding pulse operating conditions and poor beam quality due to heat accumulation and generation of high order modes.A structure of mini-array is adopted to improve the heat dissipation capacity and beam quality of BA QCLs.The active region is etched to form a multi-emitter and the channels are filled with In P:Fe,which acts as a lateral heat dissipation channel to improve the lateral heat dissipation efficiency.A device withλ~4.8μm,a peak output power of 122 W at 1.2%duty cycle with a pulse of 1.5μs is obtained in room temperature,with far-field single-lobed distribution.This result allows BA QCLs to obtain high peak power at wider pump pulse widths and higher duty cycle conditions,promotes the application of the mid-infrared laser operating in pulsed mode in th e field of standoff photoacoustic chemical detection,space optical communication,and so on.展开更多
In the process of power scaling large-area Quantum Cascade Lasers(QCLs),challenges such as degradation of beam quality and emission of multilobed far-field modes are frequently encountered.These issues become particul...In the process of power scaling large-area Quantum Cascade Lasers(QCLs),challenges such as degradation of beam quality and emission of multilobed far-field modes are frequently encountered.These issues become particularly pronounced with an increase in ridge width,resulting in multimode problems.To tackle this,an innovative multi ridge waveguide structure based on the principle of supersymmetry(SUSY)was proposed.This structure comprises a wider main waveguide in the center and two narrower auxiliary waveguides on either side.The high-order modes of the main waveguide are coupled with the modes of the auxiliary waveguides through mode-matching design,and the optical loss of the auxiliary waveguides suppresses these modes,thereby achieving fundamental mode lasing of the wider main waveguide.This paper employs the finite difference eigenmode(FDE)method to perform detailed structural modeling and simulation optimization of the 4.6μm wavelength quantum cascade laser,successfully achieving a single transverse mode QCL with a ridge width of 10μm.In comparison to the traditional single-mode QCL(with a ridge width of about 5μm),the MRW structure has the potential to increase the gain area of the laser by 100%.This offers a novel design concept and methodology for enhancing the single-mode luminous power of mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers,which is of considerable significance.展开更多
The authors report the development of aλ~4.1μm quantum cascade laser grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition using strain-balanced In Ga As/In Al As materials.A device with a 7.5 mm cavity length and 6.5μm...The authors report the development of aλ~4.1μm quantum cascade laser grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition using strain-balanced In Ga As/In Al As materials.A device with a 7.5 mm cavity length and 6.5μm ridge width,bonded to an aluminum nitride heatsink,achieves maximum output powers of 3.4 W at 288 K in pulsed mode and 1.6 W at288 K in continuous-wave(CW)operation,with corresponding maximum wall-plug efficiencies of 14.8%and 9.3%.A kink is observed in the power–current curve under CW operation,which is absent in pulsed operation.Near-field results show that in CW operation,the horizontal beam quality factor M2fluctuates with current,indicating mode instability and highorder lateral mode excitation,while in pulsed mode,the horizontal M2remains stable around 1.3 as the current increases from 1.4 A to 1.9 A.展开更多
We demonstrated a scheme of phase-locked terahertz quantum cascade lasers(THz QCLs)array,with a single-mode pulse power of 108 mW at 13 K.The device utilizes a Talbot cavity to achieve phase locking among five ridge l...We demonstrated a scheme of phase-locked terahertz quantum cascade lasers(THz QCLs)array,with a single-mode pulse power of 108 mW at 13 K.The device utilizes a Talbot cavity to achieve phase locking among five ridge lasers with first-order buried distributed feedback(DFB)grating,resulting in nearly five times amplification of the single-mode power.Due to the optimum length of Talbot cavity depends on wavelength,the combination of Talbot cavity with the DFB grating leads to better power amplification than the combination with multimode Fabry-Perot(F-P)cavities.The Talbot cavity facet reflects light back to the ridge array direction and achieves self-imaging in the array,enabling phase-locked operation of ridges.We set the spacing between adjacent elements to be 220μm,much larger than the free-space wavelength,ensuring the operation of the fundamental supermode throughout the laser's dynamic range and obtaining a high-brightness far-field distribution.This scheme provides a new approach for enhancing the single-mode power of THz QCLs.展开更多
Frequency combs with equally spaced frequency lines show great potentials for applications in spectroscopy,imag-ing,communications,and so on.In the terahertz frequency region,the quantum cascade laser(QCL)is an ideal ...Frequency combs with equally spaced frequency lines show great potentials for applications in spectroscopy,imag-ing,communications,and so on.In the terahertz frequency region,the quantum cascade laser(QCL)is an ideal radiation source for frequency comb and dual-comb operation.The systematic evaluation of phase noise characteristics of terahertz QCL frequency comb and dual-comb sources is of great importance for high precision measurements.In this work,we present detailed measurements and analysis of the phase noise characteristics of terahertz QCL frequency comb and dual-comb sources emitting around 4.2 THz with repetition frequencies of~6.2 GHz.The measurement results for the current noise of the direct current(DC)sources(that are used to electrically pump the terahertz QCLs)indicate that at 100 Hz,the current noise for DC-1 and DC-2 is 0.3895 and 0.0982 nA/Hz1/2,respectively.Such levels of current noise can be safely disregarded.The phase noise of radio frequency(RF)generators(that are employed for injection locking and phase locking),intermode beatnotes,and dual-comb signals with and without phase-locked loop(PLL)are all measured and compared.The experimental results show that in the free-running mode,the phase noise of the intermode beatnote signals is always lower than that of the dual-comb sig-nals across all frequencies.Additionally,the phase noise induced by the RF generators is negligible.By employing the phase lock-ing technique,the phase noise of the intermode beatnote and dual-comb signals in the low offset frequency band can be signifi-cantly suppressed.At an offset frequency of 100 Hz,the measured phase noise values of the dual-comb line without and with phase locking are 15.026 and-64.801 dBc/Hz,respectively.展开更多
An InP-based one-dimensional photonic crystal quantum cascade laser is realized. With photo lithography instead of electron beam lithography and using inductively coupled plasma etching, four-period air-semiconductor ...An InP-based one-dimensional photonic crystal quantum cascade laser is realized. With photo lithography instead of electron beam lithography and using inductively coupled plasma etching, four-period air-semiconductor couples are defined as Bragg reflectors at one end of the resonator. The spectral measurement at 80K shows the quasi-continuous-wave operation with the wavelength of 5.36μm for a 22gm-wide and 2mm-long epilayer-up bonded device.展开更多
Improved waveguide designs for 9.0μm GaAs-based quantum cascade laser （QCL） structures are presented. Modal losses and confinement factors are calculated for TM modes with the transfer matrix method （TMM） and eff...Improved waveguide designs for 9.0μm GaAs-based quantum cascade laser （QCL） structures are presented. Modal losses and confinement factors are calculated for TM modes with the transfer matrix method （TMM） and effective index method （EIM）. The thicknesses of the cladding layer and waveguide layer, the ridge-width, and the cavity length are all taken into account. Appropriate thicknesses of epilayers are given with lower threshold gain and more economical material growth time.展开更多
The waveguide design is one of the most important parts in a terahertz quantum cascade laser（QCL）. Si/SiGe QCL waveguides, based on the Drude model and finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） method, are designed by ...The waveguide design is one of the most important parts in a terahertz quantum cascade laser（QCL）. Si/SiGe QCL waveguides, based on the Drude model and finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） method, are designed by the traditional refractive index waveguide structure, the single-sided metal structure, the double-metal clad structure, and a novel metal/metal silicide structure. The metal/metal silicide structure, showing high modal confinement,is convenient in process engineering and is expected to be a viable waveguide solution for Si/SiGe QCLs in the THz range.展开更多
Room temperature operation is an important criterion for high performance of quantum cascade lasers. A strain-compensated quantum cascade laser（λ≈5.5μm） with optimized waveguide structure lasing at room temperatu...Room temperature operation is an important criterion for high performance of quantum cascade lasers. A strain-compensated quantum cascade laser（λ≈5.5μm） with optimized waveguide structure lasing at room temperature is reported. Accurate control of layer thickness and strain-compensated material composition is demonstrated using X-ray diffraction. An output power of at least 45mW per facet is realized for a 20μm-wide and 2mm-long laser at room temperature.展开更多
Robust quantum cascade laser(QCL)enduring high temperature continuous-wave(CW)operation is of critical importance for some applications.We report on the realization of lattice-matched InGaAs/InAlAs/InP QCL materials g...Robust quantum cascade laser(QCL)enduring high temperature continuous-wave(CW)operation is of critical importance for some applications.We report on the realization of lattice-matched InGaAs/InAlAs/InP QCL materials grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD).High interface quality structures designed for light emission at 8.5μm are achieved by optimizing and precise controlling of growth conditions.A CW output power of 1.04 W at 288 K was obtained from a 4 mm-long and 10μm-wide coated laser.Corresponding maximum wall-plug efficiency and threshold current density were 7.1%and 1.18 kA/cm2,respectively.The device can operate in CW mode up to 408 K with an output power of 160 mW.展开更多
We report on the design and fabrication of λ-7.2μm distributed feedback quantum cascade lasers lot very high temperature cw operation and low electrical power consumption. The cw operation is reported above 90℃. Fo...We report on the design and fabrication of λ-7.2μm distributed feedback quantum cascade lasers lot very high temperature cw operation and low electrical power consumption. The cw operation is reported above 90℃. For a 2-mm-long and 10-μm-wide laser coated with high-reflectivity on the rear facet, more than 170mW of output power is obtained at 20℃ with a threshold power consumption of 2.4 W, corresponding to 30mW with a threshold power consumption of 3.9 W at 90℃. Robust single-mode emission with a side-mode suppression ratio above 25 dB is continuously tunable by the heat sink temperature or injection current.展开更多
We report an external cavity quantum cascade laser （EC-QCL） operating near 6.9μm using the Littman Metcalf configuration. The EC-QCL works in a pulsed mode and can be tuned continuously from 1340 to 1640cm^-1 by on...We report an external cavity quantum cascade laser （EC-QCL） operating near 6.9μm using the Littman Metcalf configuration. The EC-QCL works in a pulsed mode and can be tuned continuously from 1340 to 1640cm^-1 by only tilting the tuning mirror. The fine tuning ability of the EC-QCL is demonstrated by measuring the absorption spectrum of water in the ambient air with a lock-in amplifier.展开更多
A 7.8-μm surface emitting second-order distributed feedback quantum cascade laser （DFB QCL） structure with metallized surface grating is studied. The modal property of this structure is described by utilizing coupl...A 7.8-μm surface emitting second-order distributed feedback quantum cascade laser （DFB QCL） structure with metallized surface grating is studied. The modal property of this structure is described by utilizing coupled-mode theory where the coupling coefficients are derived from exact Floquet-Bloch solutions of infinite periodic structure. Based on this theory, the influence of waveguide structure and grating topography as well as device length on the laser performance is numerically investigated. The optimized surface emitting second-order DFB QCL structure design exhibits a high surface outcoupling efficiency of 22% and a low threshold gain of 10 cm-1. Using a π phase-shift in the centre of the grating, a high-quality single-lobe far-field radiation pattern is obtained.展开更多
We demonstrate a broad gain,continuous-wave(CW)operation InP-based quantum cascade laser(QCL)emitting at 11.8μm with a modified dual-upper-state(DAU)and diagonal transition active region design.A 3 mm cavity length,1...We demonstrate a broad gain,continuous-wave(CW)operation InP-based quantum cascade laser(QCL)emitting at 11.8μm with a modified dual-upper-state(DAU)and diagonal transition active region design.A 3 mm cavity length,16.5μm average ridge wide QCL with high-reflection(HR)coatings demonstrates a maximum peak power of 1.07 W at 283 K and CW output power of 60 m W at 293 K.The device also shows a broad and dual-frequency lasing spectrum in pulsed mode and a maximum average power of 258.6 mW at 283 K.Moreover,the full width at half maximum(FWHM)of the electroluminescent spectrum measured at subthreshold current is 2.37μm,which indicates a broad gain spectrum of the materials.The tuning range of 1.38μm is obtained by a grating-coupled external cavity(EC)Littrow configuration,which is beneficial for gas detection.展开更多
The soil of subtropical vegetable fields is an important source of the atmospheric greenhouse gas nitrous oxide（N2O）. In a field study in subtropical China, the authors used an eddy covariance（EC）system based on a...The soil of subtropical vegetable fields is an important source of the atmospheric greenhouse gas nitrous oxide（N2O）. In a field study in subtropical China, the authors used an eddy covariance（EC）system based on a close-path quantum cascade laser（QCL） spectrometer to measure N2O fluxes from a vegetable field. During the experimental period from 9 October 2014 to 18 February 2015,the observed half-hourly N2O fluxes ranged from.10.7 to 1077.4 μg N m^-2h^-1, with a mean value of99.3 μg N m^-2h^-1. The detection limit（95% confidence level） of the EC system for half-hourly fluxes was estimated at 18.5 μg N m^-2h^-1, i.e. smaller than 97.5% of all measured fluxes, and within the range of the lower limit of reported N2O emissions from subtropical vegetable fields. The random uncertainties in the half-hourly fluxes were estimated at 60% on average, of which 62% was due to stochastic variations caused by turbulence and 38% by instrumental noise. The flux systematic uncertainties were estimated at.18% on average, mainly due to the spectral attenuation; however,this negative bias had already been corrected for by calculating half-hourly fluxes. In conclusion,the close-path QCL-based EC technique is capable of measuring the N2O fluxes from the subtropical vegetable fields of China with high reliability and accuracy.展开更多
A multimode interference(MMI)structure is designed to simplify the fabrication of quantum cascade laser(QCL)phase-locked arrays.The MMI geometry is optimized with a sufficient output channel distance to accommodate co...A multimode interference(MMI)structure is designed to simplify the fabrication of quantum cascade laser(QCL)phase-locked arrays.The MMI geometry is optimized with a sufficient output channel distance to accommodate conventional photolithography and wet etching process by which power amplifier array is fabricated without using the complicated two-step etching-regrowth or dry etching technique.The far-field pattern with periodically modulated peaks reveals that the beams from the arrays are phase-locked.Furthermore,the frequency tuning performance of the MMI-based phase-locked arrays is studied using the Littrow-configuration external cavity structure.A wavelength tuning range of more than 60 cm^(−1) is demonstrated,which will eventually realize the high power,frequency tunable,large-scale phase-locked arrays,and their application in spectroscopy.展开更多
Quantum cascade(QC)superluminescent light emitters(SLEs)have emerged as desirable broadband mid-infrared(MIR)light sources for growing number of applications in areas like medical imaging,gas sensing and national defe...Quantum cascade(QC)superluminescent light emitters(SLEs)have emerged as desirable broadband mid-infrared(MIR)light sources for growing number of applications in areas like medical imaging,gas sensing and national defense.However,it is challenging to obtain a practical high-power device due to the very low efficiency of spontaneous emission in the intersubband transitions in QC structures.Herein a design of^5μm SLEs is demonstrated with a two-phonon resonancebased QC active structure coupled with a compact combinatorial waveguide structure which comprises a short straight part adjacent to a tilted stripe and to a J-shaped waveguide.The as-fabricated SLEs achieve a high output power of 1.8 mW,exhibiting the potential to be integrated into array devices without taking up too much chip space.These results may facilitate the realization of SLE arrays to attain larger output power and pave the pathway towards the practical applications of broadband MIR light sources.展开更多
A strain-compensated InP-based quantum cascade laser（QCL） structure emitting at 4.6 μm is demonstrated,based on a two-phonon resonant design and grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy（MBE）.By optimizing the...A strain-compensated InP-based quantum cascade laser（QCL） structure emitting at 4.6 μm is demonstrated,based on a two-phonon resonant design and grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy（MBE）.By optimizing the growth parameters,a very high quality heterostructure with the lowest threshold current densities ever reported for QCLs was fabricated.Threshold current densities as low as 0.47 kA/cm^2 in pulsed operation and 0.56 kA/cm^2 in continuous-wave（cw） operation at 293 K were achieved for this state-of-the-art QCL.A minimum power consumption of 3.65 W was measured for the QCL,uncooled,with a high-reflectivity（HR） coating on its rear facet.展开更多
In this work,we demonstrated high-power quantum cascade laser(QCL)arrays lasing at λ~5μm by employing an optimized coupled-ridge waveguide(CRW)structure.Five-element QCL arrays were simulated and fabricated through ...In this work,we demonstrated high-power quantum cascade laser(QCL)arrays lasing at λ~5μm by employing an optimized coupled-ridge waveguide(CRW)structure.Five-element QCL arrays were simulated and fabricated through a two-step etching method to extend the CRW structure to a mid-wave infrared regime.A lateral far-field with the main peak near a diffraction-limited intensity curve of about 10°was observed by properly designing a geometric shape of the ridges and interspaces.By introducing a buried 2nd-order distributed feedback(DFB)grating,substrate emission with a radiation power above 1 W at 25℃ is achieved.Single longitudinal mode operation is obtained by changing the temperature of the heatsink with a good linear wavelength tuning coefficient of -0.2 cm^(-1)/K.展开更多
<div style="text-align:justify;"> In this paper, we report a single-mode Fabry-Pérot long wave infrared quantum cascade lasers based on the double phonon resonance active region design. For room t...<div style="text-align:justify;"> In this paper, we report a single-mode Fabry-Pérot long wave infrared quantum cascade lasers based on the double phonon resonance active region design. For room temperature CW operation, the wafer with 35 stages was processed into buried heterostructure lasers. For a 4 mm long and 13 μm wide laser with high-reflectivity (HR) coating on the rear facet, continuous wave output power of 43 mW at 288 K and 5 mW at 303 K is obtained with threshold current densities of 2.17 and 2.7 kA/cm2. The lasing wavelength is around 10.5 μm. Single mode emission was observed for this particular device over the whole investigated current and temperature range. </div>展开更多
文摘Broad area quantum cascade lasers(BA QCLs)have significant applications in many areas,but suffer from demanding pulse operating conditions and poor beam quality due to heat accumulation and generation of high order modes.A structure of mini-array is adopted to improve the heat dissipation capacity and beam quality of BA QCLs.The active region is etched to form a multi-emitter and the channels are filled with In P:Fe,which acts as a lateral heat dissipation channel to improve the lateral heat dissipation efficiency.A device withλ~4.8μm,a peak output power of 122 W at 1.2%duty cycle with a pulse of 1.5μs is obtained in room temperature,with far-field single-lobed distribution.This result allows BA QCLs to obtain high peak power at wider pump pulse widths and higher duty cycle conditions,promotes the application of the mid-infrared laser operating in pulsed mode in th e field of standoff photoacoustic chemical detection,space optical communication,and so on.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62105039)。
文摘In the process of power scaling large-area Quantum Cascade Lasers(QCLs),challenges such as degradation of beam quality and emission of multilobed far-field modes are frequently encountered.These issues become particularly pronounced with an increase in ridge width,resulting in multimode problems.To tackle this,an innovative multi ridge waveguide structure based on the principle of supersymmetry(SUSY)was proposed.This structure comprises a wider main waveguide in the center and two narrower auxiliary waveguides on either side.The high-order modes of the main waveguide are coupled with the modes of the auxiliary waveguides through mode-matching design,and the optical loss of the auxiliary waveguides suppresses these modes,thereby achieving fundamental mode lasing of the wider main waveguide.This paper employs the finite difference eigenmode(FDE)method to perform detailed structural modeling and simulation optimization of the 4.6μm wavelength quantum cascade laser,successfully achieving a single transverse mode QCL with a ridge width of 10μm.In comparison to the traditional single-mode QCL(with a ridge width of about 5μm),the MRW structure has the potential to increase the gain area of the laser by 100%.This offers a novel design concept and methodology for enhancing the single-mode luminous power of mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers,which is of considerable significance.
文摘The authors report the development of aλ~4.1μm quantum cascade laser grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition using strain-balanced In Ga As/In Al As materials.A device with a 7.5 mm cavity length and 6.5μm ridge width,bonded to an aluminum nitride heatsink,achieves maximum output powers of 3.4 W at 288 K in pulsed mode and 1.6 W at288 K in continuous-wave(CW)operation,with corresponding maximum wall-plug efficiencies of 14.8%and 9.3%.A kink is observed in the power–current curve under CW operation,which is absent in pulsed operation.Near-field results show that in CW operation,the horizontal beam quality factor M2fluctuates with current,indicating mode instability and highorder lateral mode excitation,while in pulsed mode,the horizontal M2remains stable around 1.3 as the current increases from 1.4 A to 1.9 A.
基金funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant numbers 62335006, 62274014, 62235016, 61734006, 61835011, 61991430funded by Key Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, grant numbers XDB43000000, QYZDJSSW-JSC027Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, grant number Z221100002722018
文摘We demonstrated a scheme of phase-locked terahertz quantum cascade lasers(THz QCLs)array,with a single-mode pulse power of 108 mW at 13 K.The device utilizes a Talbot cavity to achieve phase locking among five ridge lasers with first-order buried distributed feedback(DFB)grating,resulting in nearly five times amplification of the single-mode power.Due to the optimum length of Talbot cavity depends on wavelength,the combination of Talbot cavity with the DFB grating leads to better power amplification than the combination with multimode Fabry-Perot(F-P)cavities.The Talbot cavity facet reflects light back to the ridge array direction and achieves self-imaging in the array,enabling phase-locked operation of ridges.We set the spacing between adjacent elements to be 220μm,much larger than the free-space wavelength,ensuring the operation of the fundamental supermode throughout the laser's dynamic range and obtaining a high-brightness far-field distribution.This scheme provides a new approach for enhancing the single-mode power of THz QCLs.
基金supported by the Innovation Program for Quantum Science and Technology (2023ZD0301000)the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (62325509)+3 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62235019,61875220,61927813,61991430,62035005,62105351,62275258,62035014,and 62305364)Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (21ZR1474600)the"From 0 to 1"Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ZDBS-LY-JSC009)the CAS Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research (YSBR-069).
文摘Frequency combs with equally spaced frequency lines show great potentials for applications in spectroscopy,imag-ing,communications,and so on.In the terahertz frequency region,the quantum cascade laser(QCL)is an ideal radiation source for frequency comb and dual-comb operation.The systematic evaluation of phase noise characteristics of terahertz QCL frequency comb and dual-comb sources is of great importance for high precision measurements.In this work,we present detailed measurements and analysis of the phase noise characteristics of terahertz QCL frequency comb and dual-comb sources emitting around 4.2 THz with repetition frequencies of~6.2 GHz.The measurement results for the current noise of the direct current(DC)sources(that are used to electrically pump the terahertz QCLs)indicate that at 100 Hz,the current noise for DC-1 and DC-2 is 0.3895 and 0.0982 nA/Hz1/2,respectively.Such levels of current noise can be safely disregarded.The phase noise of radio frequency(RF)generators(that are employed for injection locking and phase locking),intermode beatnotes,and dual-comb signals with and without phase-locked loop(PLL)are all measured and compared.The experimental results show that in the free-running mode,the phase noise of the intermode beatnote signals is always lower than that of the dual-comb sig-nals across all frequencies.Additionally,the phase noise induced by the RF generators is negligible.By employing the phase lock-ing technique,the phase noise of the intermode beatnote and dual-comb signals in the low offset frequency band can be signifi-cantly suppressed.At an offset frequency of 100 Hz,the measured phase noise values of the dual-comb line without and with phase locking are 15.026 and-64.801 dBc/Hz,respectively.
文摘An InP-based one-dimensional photonic crystal quantum cascade laser is realized. With photo lithography instead of electron beam lithography and using inductively coupled plasma etching, four-period air-semiconductor couples are defined as Bragg reflectors at one end of the resonator. The spectral measurement at 80K shows the quasi-continuous-wave operation with the wavelength of 5.36μm for a 22gm-wide and 2mm-long epilayer-up bonded device.
文摘Improved waveguide designs for 9.0μm GaAs-based quantum cascade laser （QCL） structures are presented. Modal losses and confinement factors are calculated for TM modes with the transfer matrix method （TMM） and effective index method （EIM）. The thicknesses of the cladding layer and waveguide layer, the ridge-width, and the cavity length are all taken into account. Appropriate thicknesses of epilayers are given with lower threshold gain and more economical material growth time.
文摘The waveguide design is one of the most important parts in a terahertz quantum cascade laser（QCL）. Si/SiGe QCL waveguides, based on the Drude model and finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） method, are designed by the traditional refractive index waveguide structure, the single-sided metal structure, the double-metal clad structure, and a novel metal/metal silicide structure. The metal/metal silicide structure, showing high modal confinement,is convenient in process engineering and is expected to be a viable waveguide solution for Si/SiGe QCLs in the THz range.
文摘Room temperature operation is an important criterion for high performance of quantum cascade lasers. A strain-compensated quantum cascade laser（λ≈5.5μm） with optimized waveguide structure lasing at room temperature is reported. Accurate control of layer thickness and strain-compensated material composition is demonstrated using X-ray diffraction. An output power of at least 45mW per facet is realized for a 20μm-wide and 2mm-long laser at room temperature.
基金The authors would thank Ping Liang and Ying Hu for their help with device fabrication.This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2020YFB0408401)in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.61991430,61774146,61790583,61734006,61835011,61674144,61774150,61805168)+1 种基金in part by Beijing Municipal Science&Technology Commission(Grant No.Z201100004020006)in part by the Key Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.2018147,YJKYYQ20190002,QYZDJ-SSW-JSC027,XDB43000000,ZDKYYQ20200006).
文摘Robust quantum cascade laser(QCL)enduring high temperature continuous-wave(CW)operation is of critical importance for some applications.We report on the realization of lattice-matched InGaAs/InAlAs/InP QCL materials grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD).High interface quality structures designed for light emission at 8.5μm are achieved by optimizing and precise controlling of growth conditions.A CW output power of 1.04 W at 288 K was obtained from a 4 mm-long and 10μm-wide coated laser.Corresponding maximum wall-plug efficiency and threshold current density were 7.1%and 1.18 kA/cm2,respectively.The device can operate in CW mode up to 408 K with an output power of 160 mW.
基金Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China under Grant No 2013CB632801the National Key Research and Development Program under Grant No 2016YFB0402303+2 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos61435014,61627822,61574136 and 61306058the Key Projects of Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grant No ZDRW-XH-2016-4the Beijing Natural Science Foundation under Grant No 4162060
文摘We report on the design and fabrication of λ-7.2μm distributed feedback quantum cascade lasers lot very high temperature cw operation and low electrical power consumption. The cw operation is reported above 90℃. For a 2-mm-long and 10-μm-wide laser coated with high-reflectivity on the rear facet, more than 170mW of output power is obtained at 20℃ with a threshold power consumption of 2.4 W, corresponding to 30mW with a threshold power consumption of 3.9 W at 90℃. Robust single-mode emission with a side-mode suppression ratio above 25 dB is continuously tunable by the heat sink temperature or injection current.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11174098 and 11574107the SelfDetermined Research Funds of Central China Normal University under Grant No CCNU15A02034
文摘We report an external cavity quantum cascade laser （EC-QCL） operating near 6.9μm using the Littman Metcalf configuration. The EC-QCL works in a pulsed mode and can be tuned continuously from 1340 to 1640cm^-1 by only tilting the tuning mirror. The fine tuning ability of the EC-QCL is demonstrated by measuring the absorption spectrum of water in the ambient air with a lock-in amplifier.
基金Project supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (Grant No. 60525406)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 60736031,60806018,and 60906026)+1 种基金the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB604903)the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2007AA03Z446 and 2009AA03Z403)
文摘A 7.8-μm surface emitting second-order distributed feedback quantum cascade laser （DFB QCL） structure with metallized surface grating is studied. The modal property of this structure is described by utilizing coupled-mode theory where the coupling coefficients are derived from exact Floquet-Bloch solutions of infinite periodic structure. Based on this theory, the influence of waveguide structure and grating topography as well as device length on the laser performance is numerically investigated. The optimized surface emitting second-order DFB QCL structure design exhibits a high surface outcoupling efficiency of 22% and a low threshold gain of 10 cm-1. Using a π phase-shift in the centre of the grating, a high-quality single-lobe far-field radiation pattern is obtained.
基金Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2018YFA0209103)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.61991430,61774146,61790583,61734006,61835011,61674144,61774150,and 61805168)+1 种基金Beijing Municipal Science&Technology Commission,China(Grant No.Z201100004020006)the Key Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.2018147,YJKYYQ20190002,QYZDJ-SSWJSC027,XDB43000000,and ZDKYYQ20200006)。
文摘We demonstrate a broad gain,continuous-wave(CW)operation InP-based quantum cascade laser(QCL)emitting at 11.8μm with a modified dual-upper-state(DAU)and diagonal transition active region design.A 3 mm cavity length,16.5μm average ridge wide QCL with high-reflection(HR)coatings demonstrates a maximum peak power of 1.07 W at 283 K and CW output power of 60 m W at 293 K.The device also shows a broad and dual-frequency lasing spectrum in pulsed mode and a maximum average power of 258.6 mW at 283 K.Moreover,the full width at half maximum(FWHM)of the electroluminescent spectrum measured at subthreshold current is 2.37μm,which indicates a broad gain spectrum of the materials.The tuning range of 1.38μm is obtained by a grating-coupled external cavity(EC)Littrow configuration,which is beneficial for gas detection.
基金supported from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China[grant number 2012CB417106]the Chinese Academy of Sciences[grant number XDA05020100]+1 种基金the German Science Foundation[contract number BU1173/12-1]the National Natural Science Foundation of China[grant numbers41405137 and 41321064]
文摘The soil of subtropical vegetable fields is an important source of the atmospheric greenhouse gas nitrous oxide（N2O）. In a field study in subtropical China, the authors used an eddy covariance（EC）system based on a close-path quantum cascade laser（QCL） spectrometer to measure N2O fluxes from a vegetable field. During the experimental period from 9 October 2014 to 18 February 2015,the observed half-hourly N2O fluxes ranged from.10.7 to 1077.4 μg N m^-2h^-1, with a mean value of99.3 μg N m^-2h^-1. The detection limit（95% confidence level） of the EC system for half-hourly fluxes was estimated at 18.5 μg N m^-2h^-1, i.e. smaller than 97.5% of all measured fluxes, and within the range of the lower limit of reported N2O emissions from subtropical vegetable fields. The random uncertainties in the half-hourly fluxes were estimated at 60% on average, of which 62% was due to stochastic variations caused by turbulence and 38% by instrumental noise. The flux systematic uncertainties were estimated at.18% on average, mainly due to the spectral attenuation; however,this negative bias had already been corrected for by calculating half-hourly fluxes. In conclusion,the close-path QCL-based EC technique is capable of measuring the N2O fluxes from the subtropical vegetable fields of China with high reliability and accuracy.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant Nos.2018YFA0209103 and 2018YFB2200504)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.61991430,61774146,61790583,61674144,61774150,and 61805168)+1 种基金the Beijing Municipal Science&Technology Commission,China(Grant No.Z201100004020006)the Key Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.2018147,YJKYYQ20190002,QYZDJ-SSW-JSC027,and XDB43000000).
文摘A multimode interference(MMI)structure is designed to simplify the fabrication of quantum cascade laser(QCL)phase-locked arrays.The MMI geometry is optimized with a sufficient output channel distance to accommodate conventional photolithography and wet etching process by which power amplifier array is fabricated without using the complicated two-step etching-regrowth or dry etching technique.The far-field pattern with periodically modulated peaks reveals that the beams from the arrays are phase-locked.Furthermore,the frequency tuning performance of the MMI-based phase-locked arrays is studied using the Littrow-configuration external cavity structure.A wavelength tuning range of more than 60 cm^(−1) is demonstrated,which will eventually realize the high power,frequency tunable,large-scale phase-locked arrays,and their application in spectroscopy.
基金supported by the Key Research and Development Plan of Ministry of Science and Technology(No.2016YFB0402303)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.61575222)+1 种基金the open project of the State Key Laboratory of Luminescence and ApplicationsChina Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No.2017M621858)
文摘Quantum cascade(QC)superluminescent light emitters(SLEs)have emerged as desirable broadband mid-infrared(MIR)light sources for growing number of applications in areas like medical imaging,gas sensing and national defense.However,it is challenging to obtain a practical high-power device due to the very low efficiency of spontaneous emission in the intersubband transitions in QC structures.Herein a design of^5μm SLEs is demonstrated with a two-phonon resonancebased QC active structure coupled with a compact combinatorial waveguide structure which comprises a short straight part adjacent to a tilted stripe and to a J-shaped waveguide.The as-fabricated SLEs achieve a high output power of 1.8 mW,exhibiting the potential to be integrated into array devices without taking up too much chip space.These results may facilitate the realization of SLE arrays to attain larger output power and pave the pathway towards the practical applications of broadband MIR light sources.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant Nos.2013CB632801 and 2013CB632803)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.61306058,61274094,and 61435014)the Beijing Natural Science Foundation(Grant No.4144086)
文摘A strain-compensated InP-based quantum cascade laser（QCL） structure emitting at 4.6 μm is demonstrated,based on a two-phonon resonant design and grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy（MBE）.By optimizing the growth parameters,a very high quality heterostructure with the lowest threshold current densities ever reported for QCLs was fabricated.Threshold current densities as low as 0.47 kA/cm^2 in pulsed operation and 0.56 kA/cm^2 in continuous-wave（cw） operation at 293 K were achieved for this state-of-the-art QCL.A minimum power consumption of 3.65 W was measured for the QCL,uncooled,with a high-reflectivity（HR） coating on its rear facet.
基金supported by National Basic Research Program of China(Grant Nos.2018YFA0209103,2018YFB2200504)in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.61991430,61774146,61790583,61734006,61835011,61674144,61774150,61805168)+1 种基金in part by Beijing Municipal Science&Technology Commission(Grant No.Z201100004020006)in part by the Key projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.2018147,Grant No.YJKYYQ20190002,Grant No.QYZDJ-SSW-JSC027,Grant No.XDB43000000,Grant No.ZDKYYQ20200006).
文摘In this work,we demonstrated high-power quantum cascade laser(QCL)arrays lasing at λ~5μm by employing an optimized coupled-ridge waveguide(CRW)structure.Five-element QCL arrays were simulated and fabricated through a two-step etching method to extend the CRW structure to a mid-wave infrared regime.A lateral far-field with the main peak near a diffraction-limited intensity curve of about 10°was observed by properly designing a geometric shape of the ridges and interspaces.By introducing a buried 2nd-order distributed feedback(DFB)grating,substrate emission with a radiation power above 1 W at 25℃ is achieved.Single longitudinal mode operation is obtained by changing the temperature of the heatsink with a good linear wavelength tuning coefficient of -0.2 cm^(-1)/K.
文摘<div style="text-align:justify;"> In this paper, we report a single-mode Fabry-Pérot long wave infrared quantum cascade lasers based on the double phonon resonance active region design. For room temperature CW operation, the wafer with 35 stages was processed into buried heterostructure lasers. For a 4 mm long and 13 μm wide laser with high-reflectivity (HR) coating on the rear facet, continuous wave output power of 43 mW at 288 K and 5 mW at 303 K is obtained with threshold current densities of 2.17 and 2.7 kA/cm2. The lasing wavelength is around 10.5 μm. Single mode emission was observed for this particular device over the whole investigated current and temperature range. </div>
