Grating-coupled external-cavity quantum-cascade lasers were studied for temperatures from 80 to 230 K. At 80 K, a tuning range of ∼65–88 nm are obtained for 4.5 and 5.1 μm laser amplifiers, respectively. The tuning ranges for both narrowed substantially with increasing temperature, to ∼23 nm at 203 K. The threshold varied slowly versus wavelength, while the efficiency appeared to be close to optimum toward wavelengths shorter than the free running wavelength.

1.
J.
Faist
,
F.
Capasso
,
D. L.
Sivco
,
C.
Sirtori
,
A. L.
Hutchinson
, and
A. Y.
Cho
,
Science
264
,
553
(
1994
).
2.
J.
Faist
,
F.
Capasso
,
C.
Sirtori
,
D. L.
Sivco
,
J. N.
Baillargeon
,
A. L.
Hutchinson
, and
A. Y.
Cho
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
68
,
3680
(
1996
).
3.
C.
Gmachl
,
J.
Faist
,
J. N.
Baillargeon
,
F.
Capasso
,
C.
Sirtori
,
D. L.
Sivco
,
S. N. G.
Chu
, and
A. Y.
Cho
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
70
,
2670
(
1997
).
4.
H. Q.
Le
,
G. W.
Turner
,
J. R.
Ochoa
,
M. J.
Manfra
,
C. C.
Cook
, and
Y. H.
Zhang
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
69
,
2804
(
1996
).
5.
H. Q.
Le
,
G. W.
Turner
,
J. R.
Ochoa
,
M. J.
Manfra
,
C. C.
Cook
, and
Y. H.
Zhang
,
Proc. SPIE
3001
,
298
(
1997
).
6.
W.-Y. Hwang, B. Ishaug, J. Um, James N. Baillargeon, and C.-H. Lin (unpublished).
7.
S.
Sivken
,
V. I.
Litvinov
,
M.
Razeghi
, and
J. R.
Meyer
,
J. Appl. Phys.
85
,
665
(
2000
).
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.