Ultralow power consumption of a quantum cascade laser operating in continuous-wave mode at room temperature

Feng, Cheng; Zhang, Jin-Chuan; Guan, Yanjiao; Yang, Pengchang; Zhuo, Ning; Zhai, Shenqiang; Liu, Junqi; Wang, Lijun; Liu, Shuman; Liu, Fengqi; Wang, Zhanguo

doi:10.1364/oe.405528

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…With optimized apertures in both facet-coatings, the threshold dissipation power at 20 ∘ C is 143 mW. This is 45% smaller than the previously reported result 42 . The threshold current under −20 ∘ C is 8.3 mA.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 56%

Ultra-low threshold lasing through phase front engineering via a metallic circular aperture

et al. 2022

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Semiconductor lasers with extremely low threshold power require a combination of small volume active region with high-quality-factor cavities. For ridge lasers with highly reflective coatings, an ultra-low threshold demands significantly suppressing the diffraction loss at the facets of the laser. Here, we demonstrate that introducing a subwavelength aperture in the metallic highly reflective coating of a laser can correct the phase front, thereby counter-intuitively enhancing both its modal reflectivity and transmissivity at the same time. Theoretical and experimental results manifest a decreasing in the mirror loss by over 40% and an increasing in the transmissivity by 104. Implementing this method on a small-cavity quantum cascade laser, room-temperature continuous-wave lasing operation at 4.5 μm wavelength with an electrical consumption power of only 143 mW is achieved. Our work suggests possibilities for future portable applications and can be implemented in a broad range of optoelectronic systems.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 56%

Ultra-low threshold lasing through phase front engineering via a metallic circular aperture

et al. 2022

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“…2 shows the current-voltage characteristics with a finer measurement step of 0.1 mA, and a total reduction of 3.3 mA in the threshold current is clearly observed. Compared to the initial threshold dissipation with unpatterned coatings, the final threshold dissipation is decreased by 25 %, down to 143 mW at 20 • C, which is 45 % lower than the previously achieved record 34 . At -20 • C, the threshold current is 8.3 mA.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 54%

Ultra-low threshold lasing through phase front engineering via a metallic circular aperture

Wang,

Kapsalidis,

Wang

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Semiconductor lasers with ultra-low thresholds and minimal footprints are a topic of active research [1][2][3][4][5][6] . Such devices require a combination of high quality factor laser cavities with small active region volumes, which drives the quest for novel cavity geometries exploiting nano-optic concepts [7][8][9][10][11] . For high-reflectivity coated ridge lasers, where light is tightly confined in the waveguide, a low threshold can only be achieved by strongly reducing the diffraction losses arising at the laser facet. We show here that, somewhat counter-intuitively, opening a carefully designed aperture in a metallic facet coating can simultaneously enhance both its transmission and modal reflectivity by correcting the phase front at the subwavelength scale. Numerical simulations and experimental results demonstrate a reduction of optical mirror loss by up to 40% while the transmission is increased by four orders of magnitude. Applying this approach to both facets of a short cavity quantum cascade laser, we achieve laser operation at room temperature with an electrical dissipation of only 143 mW. Such light sources are especially suitable for portable and battery-operated chemical agent sensing applications operating in the mid-infrared wavelength range, where multiple greenhouse and pollutant gases have their fundamental absorption lines. Our work suggests possibilities for further applications including frequency comb dispersion engineering, and can be implemented in a broad range of optoelectronic systems.

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“…The most relevant option between these two lasers could be the one that is able to generate chaos with the largest bandwidth. As our private communication system is meant to be mobile, inquiries to find the semiconductor mid-infrared sources with the minimum bulkiness and energy footprint 56 will also be undertaken.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Private communication with quantum cascade laser photonic chaos

Spitz

Herdt

et al. 2021

Nat Commun

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Mid-infrared free-space optical communication has a large potential for high speed communication due to its immunity to electromagnetic interference. However, data security against eavesdroppers is among the obstacles for private free-space communication. Here, we show that two uni-directionally coupled quantum cascade lasers operating in the chaotic regime and the synchronization between them allow for the extraction of the information that has been camouflaged in the chaotic emission. This building block represents a key tool to implement a high degree of privacy directly on the physical layer. We realize a proof-of-concept communication at a wavelength of 5.7 μm with a message encryption at a bit rate of 0.5 Mbit/s. Our demonstration of private free-space communication between a transmitter and receiver opens strategies for physical encryption and decryption of a digital message.

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Ultralow power consumption of a quantum cascade laser operating in continuous-wave mode at room temperature

Cited by 16 publications

References 11 publications

Ultra-low threshold lasing through phase front engineering via a metallic circular aperture

Ultra-low threshold lasing through phase front engineering via a metallic circular aperture

Ultra-low threshold lasing through phase front engineering via a metallic circular aperture

Private communication with quantum cascade laser photonic chaos

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