High-temperature interband cascade lasers emitting in the 2.9-4.2 μm wavelength range

This paper reports an evaluation of carrier lifetimes and Auger coefficients for numerous interband cascade lasers (ICLs) emitting over a large part of the midinfrared spectrum. The lifetimes and Auger coefficients are extracted by correlating the measured pulsed threshold current densities and slope efficiencies of broad-area ICLs with calculations of optical gain vs. carrier density in the active region. Results show that the improved properties that led to room-temperature cw operation are similarly available in devices spanning the spectral window of at least 2.9-4.2 mum.