Mid Infrared Dfb Interband Cascade Lasers

The mid infrared spectral range (MIR) is of great interest for a variety of industrial, medical and environmental applications since numerous molecules have strong absorption lines therein. Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) have the ability to cover the entire MIR almost independently from the bandgap of the utilized semiconductors. Combined with a DFB technology which is applicable for most kinds of interband transition based semiconductor lasers the spectral range between 2.8 and 5.9 mu m could be covered with application grade single mode devices with low power consumption. Recent optimizations regarding the layer design as well as the device processing yielded DFB laser chips with improved performance that will pave the way for a variety of applications that benefit from reasonable output power.