Development of Efficient Mid-IR Interband Cascade Lasers for Chemical Sensing

Significant progress has been made: Above room temperature (up to 350K) pulsed operation has been demonstrated. CW operation temperature has been raised up to 237 K. DFB IC lasers have been applied for the detection of trace gases such as CH4, HCl, and H2CO. Devices have been operated continuously over several hundred hours without degradation. Main challenge remains for many potential applications of ICLs. CW operation at room temperature and above with significant output powers. There is still significant room for improvement: Laser design and material quality - many parameters have not been optimized. Device fabrication and thermal management (passivation, better mounting, etc.). Significantly higher output power can be achieved with laser arrays.