Mid-infrared and Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers: from quantum design to commercialization

Summary form only given. The unipolar nature of quantum cascade lasers (QCL) combined with the capabilities of bandstructure engineering leads to unprecedented design flexibility and functionality compared to other lasers. State-of-the-art performance in the mid-IR and terahertz will be reviewed. A broad range of applications (chembio sensing, trace gas analysis, atmospheric chemistry, medical and combustion diagnostics, THz imaging, etc.) and their ongoing commercial development will be discussed. Finally I will also discuss recent exciting developments such as new light-sources that uses the giant resonant nonlinear susceptibilities of quantum engineered structures to achieve high conversion efficiency at satellite wavelengths, ultrabrodband lasers, photonic crystal and optofluidic QCLs.