Voltage tunability of quantum cascade lasers

Yu Yao, Zhijun Liu, Anthony J. Hoffman, Kale J. Franz, Claire F. Gmachl

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

The voltage tunability of three types of quantum cascade laser designs is investigated. The tuning coefficients and tuning ranges of electroluminescence and laser emission from all designs are measured and compared with the calculated results. A reduced tunability was observed in all lasers above threshold. This is attributed to the decrease of resistance across the laser active region (AR) as the photon density increases. A resumed tunability high above threshold occurs in all lasers with anticrossed injector ground and upper laser states. Lasers based on the anticrossed diagonal transition are tunable above threshold, with a tuning range of about 30 cm-1 (∼ 3% of the laser emission wavenumber), i.e., a tuning rate of 750 cm-1V-1 · period -1 of the AR and the injector.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)730-736
Number of pages7
JournalIEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics
Volume45
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Quantum cascade (QC) lasers
  • Stark effect
  • Tunable lasers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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