GaInAs/AlAsSb Quantum Cascade Lasers: A New Approach towards 3-to-5 μm Semiconductor Lasers

At present GaInAs/AlInAs based quantum cascade (QC) lasers represent the state-of-the-art with respect to the short-wavelength ( 400K for devices emitting at 4.6 μm and an impressive maximum peak output power of 8W at 77K (corresponding to a total power efficiency of 23 %) for a QC laser emitting at 3.7 μm. Furthermore, current limitations of the GaInAs/AlAsSb QC laser concept and challenges for future research are discussed.