High-Power Infrared (8-Micrometer Wavelength) Superlattice Lasers
Gaetano Scamarcio,
*
Federico Capasso,
Carlo Sirtori,
Jerome Faist,
Albert L. Hutchinson,
Deborah L. Sivco,
Alfred Y. Cho
A quantum-cascade long-wavelength infrared laser based on
superlattice active regions has been demonstrated. In this source, electrons injected by tunneling emit photons corresponding to the
energy gap (minigap) between two superlattice conduction bands (minibands). A distinctive design feature is the high oscillator strength of the optical transition. Pulsed operation at a wavelength of
about 8 micrometers with peak powers ranging from ~0.80 watt at 80 kelvin to 0.2 watt at 200 kelvin has been demonstrated in a
superlattice with 1-nanometer-thick AlInAs barriers and
4.3-nanometer-thick GaInAs quantum wells grown by molecular beam
epitaxy. These results demonstrate the potential of strongly coupled
superlattices as infrared laser materials for high-power sources in
which the wavelength can be tailored by design.
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, 700 Mountain Avenue,
Murray Hill, NJ 07974, USA.
*
Present address: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di
Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy. E-mail: scamarcio{at}ba.infn.it
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
fc{at}bell-labs.com
Present address: LCR Thomson-CSF, Domaine de Corbeville,
91400 Orsay, France.
