Quantum-cascade lasers enable infrared sensors
- BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
Quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) are semiconductor-injection lasers based on intersubband transitions in a multiple-quantum-well heterostructure. They are designed using band-structure engineering and grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The emission wavelength of a QCL is primarily a function of quantum-well thickness--thinner quantum wells lead to shorter wavelengths--and is essentially independent of the material bandgap. Quantum-cascade lasers can be designed to operate at any wavelength from 3.5 m (infrared) to 67 m (terahertz region) and are continuously tunable through ranges of a few inverse centimeters.1, 2, 3 This capability makes them well suited for spectroscopy in the infrared (see Laser Focus World, August 1999, p. 40).
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 15004348
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-39095; NN2001000; TRN: US200320%%303
- Journal Information:
- Laser Focus World, Vol. 5, Issue 39; Other Information: PBD: 1 May 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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