Characterization and modeling of quantum cascade lasers based on a photon-assisted tunneling transition

Author

Blaser, Stéphane ; Diehl, Laurent ; Beck, Mattias ; Faist, Jérôme ; Oesterle, Ursula ; Xu, Jihua ; Barbieri, Stefano ; Beltram, Fabio

Author_Institution

Inst. de Phys., Neuchatel Univ., Switzerland

Volume

37

Issue

3

fYear

2001

fDate

3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

448

Lastpage

455

Abstract

A detailed characterization and modeling of long-wavelength (λ~10 μm) quantum cascade (QC) lasers based on a photon-assisted tunneling transition are presented. In particular, the influence of the finite lifetime of the lower state of the laser transition on the current-voltage and threshold current versus temperature characteristics have been studied both theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that, for our structure, the value of the lower state lifetime can be extracted from the voltage-current curve; the value we found was 2.6 ps. In addition, this model allows to understand the abrupt degradation of the performance of the device for T>150 K. Low temperature (T=10 K) threshold current densities of 1.1 kA/cm² and a tuning range of 85 cm^-1 in pulsed mode are reported. In continuous-wave mode, the emission linewidth of a free-running laser was determined to be 3.9 MHz

Keywords

laser modes; laser theory; laser transitions; quantum well lasers; semiconductor device models; tunnelling; 10 K; 150 K; 2.6 ps; continuous-wave mode; emission linewidth; finite lifetime; free-running laser; laser transition; long-wavelength; low temperature threshold current densities; lower state lifetime; photon-assisted tunneling transition; pulsed mode; quantum cascade laser modelling; temperature characteristics; threshold current; voltage-current curve; Degradation; Laser modes; Laser theory; Laser transitions; Laser tuning; Quantum cascade lasers; Temperature; Threshold current; Tunneling; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.910456

Filename

910456