Abstract
Considerable progress has been made in mid-IR semiconductor lasers in terms of maximum operating temperature and output power. Antimonide-based type-I quantum-well lasers have exhibited cw operation at 2.0 μm up to 400 K, at 2.7μm to 234 K, at 3.5μm to 175 K, and at 3.9 μm to 128 K. 4-μm lasers pumped by 1-μm diode laser arrays have yielded peak power of 2 W and average power of 240 mW at 92 K. Diode lasers utilizing type-II transitions have exhibited pulsed operation between 2.8 and 4.3 μm, with maximum operating temperature of 255 K at 3.2 μm. Type-II lasers pumped by a high-power Ho:YAG laser have operated pulsed up to 350 K at 3.2 μm and 285 K at 4.1 μm. Quantum cascade lasers emitting at - 5 μm or - 8 μm have operated pulsed up to 320 K and cw to 140 K.
