Title :
Optically- and electrically-pumped type-II "W" quantum well lasers for the mid IR
Author :
Meyer, J.R. ; Bewley, W.W. ; Vurgaftman, I. ; Felix, C.L. ; Olafsen, L.J. ; Stokes, D.W. ; Yang, M.J. ; Lee, Hongseok ; Menna, R.J. ; Martinelli, R.U. ; Garbuzov, D.Z. ; Connolly, J.C. ; Maiorov, M. ; Sugg, A.R. ; Olsen, G.H.
Author_Institution :
Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA
Abstract :
Summary form only given.Optically pumped mid-IR lasers with type-II W active regions (InAs-GaInSb-InAs-AlAsSb) recently lased cw at temperatures up to 290 K at /spl lambda/=3.0 /spl mu/m and to 135 K at 7.1 /spl mu/m. The cw output power exceeded 0.5 W at 78 K and /spl lambda/=3.2 /spl mu/m. However, conversion efficiencies must be improved if the ultimate goal of high cw power at thermoelectric-cooler temperatures is to be achieved. Here we report encouraging progress toward that objective using the optical-pumping injection cavity (OPIC) approach, in which the active region is enclosed in an etalon cavity whose resonance is tuned to the pump wavelength, /spl lambda//sub pump/. Experiments on MBE-grown structures containing semiconductor Bragg mirrors above and below the active quantum wells (QWs) confirm that the multiple passes of the pump result in (1) enhanced pump-beam absorptance, (2) reduced threshold, and (3) reduced internal loss.
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; gallium compounds; indium compounds; infrared sources; laser cavity resonators; optical pumping; quantum well lasers; 0.5 W; 135 K; 290 K; 3 mum; 3.2 mum; 7.1 mum; 78 K; InAs-GaInSb-InAs-AlAsSb; MBE-grown structures; active quantum wells; active region; conversion efficiencies; cw output power; electrically-pumped; enhanced pump-beam absorptance; etalon cavity; high cw power; multiple passes; optical-pumping injection cavity approach; optically-pumped; pump wavelength; reduced internal loss; reduced threshold; resonance tuned; semiconductor Bragg mirrors; thermoelectric-cooler temperatures; type-II W quantum well lasers; Gas lasers; Heating; Laser theory; Laser transitions; Power lasers; Quantum cascade lasers; Quantum well lasers; Testing; Voltage; X-ray diffraction;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2000. (CLEO 2000). Conference on
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
1-55752-634-6
DOI :
10.1109/CLEO.2000.906727
