High-temperature interband cascade lasers

US8125706B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force · US

Inventors

• Igor Vurgaftman · Pikesville, US
• Jerry R. Meyer · Catonsville, US
• Chadwick Lawrence Canedy · Washington, US
• William W. Bewley · Falls Church, US
• James R. Lindle · Bowie, US
• Chul Soo Kim · Springfield, US
• Mijin Kim · Suwon-si, KR

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 12, 2009
• Grant date: Feb 28, 2012
• Expiry date: Aug 4, 2030

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01S5/34306
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A gain medium and an interband cascade laser, an interband cascade amplifier, and an external cavity laser having the gain medium are presented. The gain medium can include any one or more of the following features: (1) the active quantum well region includes a thick and In-rich GaInSb hole well; (2) the hole injector includes two or more GaSb hole wells having thicknesses in a specified range; (3) the electron and hole injectors are separated by a thick AlSb barrier to suppress interband absorption; (4) a first electron barrier of the hole injector region separating the hole injector region from an adjacent active quantum well region has a thickness sufficient to lower a square of a wavefunction overlap between a zone-center active electron quantum well and injector hole states to not more than 5%; (5) the thickness of the first InAs electron well in the electron injector, as well as the total thickness of the electron injector, is reduced; (6) the number of cascaded stages is reduced; (7) transition regions are inserted at the interfaces between the various regions of the gain medium so as to smooth out abrupt shifts of the conduction-band minimum; (8) thick separate confinement …