Quantum cascade lasers with low-loss chalcogenide lateral waveguides

Author

Gmachl, Claire ; Hwang, Harold Y. ; Paiella, Roberto ; Sivco, Deborah L. ; Baillargeon, James N. ; Capasso, Federico ; Cho, Alfred Y.

Author_Institution

Lucent Technol. Bell Labs., Murray Hill, NJ, USA

Volume

13

Issue

3

fYear

2001

fDate

3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

182

Lastpage

184

Abstract

Quantum cascade lasers have been fabricated with chalcogenide lateral waveguide claddings. Several-micrometer thick Ge/sub 0.25/Se/sub 0.75/ glass has been deposited by pulsed laser ablation onto the sidewalls of narrow, deep etched laser ridges. Due to the intrinsically low mid-infrared attenuation of the chalcogenide material, the waveguide loss of the lasers is significantly reduced, by up to /spl sim/50%, depending on the ridge width, when compared to conventional ridge waveguides. This resulted in an improved overall laser performance, such as a reduction of the threshold current density, an increase in slope efficiency, and an improved temperature performance.

Keywords

chalcogenide glasses; optical fabrication; optical losses; pulsed laser deposition; quantum well lasers; ridge waveguides; waveguide lasers; Ge/sub 0.25/Se/sub 0.75/; Ge/sub 0.25/Se/sub 0.75/ glass; chalcogenide lateral waveguide claddings; chalcogenide material; deep etched laser ridges; intrinsically low mid-infrared attenuation; low-loss chalcogenide lateral waveguides; pulsed laser ablation deposition; quantum cascade lasers; ridge waveguides; slope efficiency; temperature performance; threshold current density; waveguide loss; Etching; Glass; Laser ablation; Optical attenuators; Optical materials; Optical pulses; Pulsed laser deposition; Quantum cascade lasers; Threshold current; Waveguide lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.914314

Filename

914314