Broadband monolithically tunable quantum cascade lasers

Wenjia Zhou, Ryan McClintock, Donghai Wu, Steven Slivken, Manijeh Razeghi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Mid-infrared lasers, emitting in the spectral region of 3-12 μm that contain strong characteristic vibrational transitions of many important molecules, are highly desirable for spectroscopy sensing applications. High efficiency quantum cascade lasers have been demonstrated with up to watt-level output power in the mid-infrared region. However, the wide wavelength tuning, which is critical for spectroscopy applications, is still largely relying on incorporating external gratings, which have stability issues. Here, we demonstrate the development a monolithic, widely tunable quantum cascade laser source emitting between 6.1 and 9.2 μm through an on-chip integration of a sampled grating distributed feedback tunable laser array with a beam combiner. A compact tunable laser system was built to drive the individual lasers within the array and coordinate the driving of the laser array to produce desired wavelength. A broadband spectral measurement (520cm-1) of methane shows excellent agreement with Fourier transform infrared spectrometer measurement. Further optimizations have led to high performance monolithic tunable QCLs with up to 65 mW output while delivering fundamental mode outputs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationQuantum Sensing and Nano Electronics and Photonics XV
EditorsGiuseppe Leo, Gail J. Brown, Manijeh Razeghi, Jay S. Lewis
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781510615656
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018
EventQuantum Sensing and Nano Electronics and Photonics XV 2018 - San Francisco, United States
Duration: Jan 28 2018Feb 2 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume10540
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Other

OtherQuantum Sensing and Nano Electronics and Photonics XV 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period1/28/182/2/18

Keywords

  • broadband
  • mid-infrared
  • quantum cascade lasers
  • single mode
  • spectroscopy
  • tunable

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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