Daylight Solutions Inc. has reached major milestones under its reliability characterization and growth program for quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology. The company has clocked more than 1 million hours of QCL operation, and more than 250,000 hours of fully packaged QCL module operation. More than 80 individual QCLs, from five different epitaxial wafers, are being evaluated as part of the program. Units tested are sampled from high-yield, commercial production; all maintain optical power levels above specifications throughout the testing and are operating without failure, the company said. In the tests, lasers run in both CW and quasi-CW modes to explore reliability. While some of the devices are operating at room temperature, the majority of the tests are conducted with the QCL devices running at 60 °C. Increasing the operating temperature can accelerate the aging effects of standard group III-V semiconductor diode lasers, and also creates an added stress component for these tests. In practice, the thermal management system of the QCL-based products will maintain device temperatures around 25 °C while allowing the ambient temperature to increase beyond 71 °C and maintain performance. “The achievement of this milestone demonstrates the inherent reliability of our QCL technology,” said Daylight CEO Dr. Timothy Day. For more information, visit www.daylightsolutions.com.