Search
Menu
Gentec Electro-Optics Inc   - Measure With Gentec Accuracy LB

QCL Output Power Boosted

Facebook X LinkedIn Email
An output power of 120 W has been delivered by a single mid-infrared quantum cascade laser operating at room temperature, a breakthrough seen as important for future defense applications. 

The results, which are nearly four times the output power from a single device recorded a year ago, were achieved by Northwestern University researchers and are seen as particularly attractive for infrared countermeasure, a way of misguiding incoming missiles to protect commercial and military aircrafts.

Unlike conventional interband semiconductor lasers, such as those used in DVD players, the quantum cascade laser (QCL) is an intersubband device that requires only electrons to operate. Because of this fundamental difference, a QCL shows unique properties that a conventional laser lacks. One of these properties is that the linewidth enhancement factor of a QCL is close to zero, compared to two to five for a conventional laser. This difference has serious implications in terms of power scaling with broad-area devices.

The research, led by Manijeh Razeghi, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, was published this week in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

Razeghi and researchers at the Center for Quantum Devices at Northwestern found that the QCL is exceptionally resistant to filiamentation, a phenomenon that limits the ridge width of conventional broad-area semiconductor lasers. Razeghi's team demonstrated that the ridge width of a broad-area QCL can be increased up to 400 µm without suffering from filiamentation. As a result, room temperature peak output power as high as 120 W was obtained from a single device, which is up from 34 W only a year ago.

This work is partially supported by DARPA's Efficient Mid-Infrared Laser (EMIL) program. Additional funding is provided by the Office of Naval Research.

For more information, visit: www.northwestern.edu






Rocky Mountain Instruments - Custom Assemblies MR

Published: December 2009
Glossary
electron
A charged elementary particle of an atom; the term is most commonly used in reference to the negatively charged particle called a negatron. Its mass at rest is me = 9.109558 x 10-31 kg, its charge is 1.6021917 x 10-19 C, and its spin quantum number is 1/2. Its positive counterpart is called a positron, and possesses the same characteristics, except for the reversal of the charge.
infrared
Infrared (IR) refers to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than those of visible light, but shorter than those of microwaves. The infrared spectrum spans wavelengths roughly between 700 nanometers (nm) and 1 millimeter (mm). It is divided into three main subcategories: Near-infrared (NIR): Wavelengths from approximately 700 nm to 1.4 micrometers (µm). Near-infrared light is often used in telecommunications, as well as in various imaging and sensing...
photonics
The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...
quantum cascade laser
A quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a type of semiconductor laser that operates based on the principles of quantum mechanics. It is a versatile and powerful device used for emitting coherent light in the mid-infrared to terahertz range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Quantum cascade lasers were first proposed by Federico Capasso, Jerome Faist, Deborah Sivco, Carlo Sirtori, Albert Hutchinson, and Alfred Cho in 1994. Key features and principles of quantum cascade lasers: Quantum cascade...
countermeasureDARPAdefenseDVDelectronEMILfiliamentationImaginginfraredManijeh RazeghiMcCormick School of EngineeringmilitaryNews & FeaturesNorthwesternOutput PowerphotonicsQCLquantum cascade laserResearch & Technologyroom temperaturesemiconductor laserssingle deviceLasers

We use cookies to improve user experience and analyze our website traffic as stated in our Privacy Policy. By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.