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Impact of optical device parameters on the performance characteristics of temperature dependent quantum cascade lasers

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Abstract

Temperature dependent Quantum Cascade Lasers are known for their advantages when compared to conventional lasers. In this work, we will focus on their temperature dependent capabilities. This research work reports the impact of optical device parameters on the transient and steady state dynamics of the device. Also, analysis on the analog modulation characteristics on the device is carried out in detail. The parameters namely terminal voltage (V), spontaneous emission factor (β), number of stages (M) and mirror reflectivity (R) are varied under different cold finger temperature conditions to evaluate their effect on the device characteristics. Bandwidth, maximum modulation depth, and corresponding frequency are investigated while the device is being powered by a haversine input current. From the analysis, it is found that as the cold finger temperature is increased, the lasing action is delayed leading to increase in threshold current irrespective of variation in any device parameter. Also, maximum Modulation Depth (MD) of 18% is obtained when T = 45 K and driven with 0.65 A current. When the injected current is 1.05 A at T = 15 K, maximum bandwidth of 27 GHz is produced. The minimum frequency to produce maximum MD increases with increase in current and cold finger temperatures.

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The authors certify that this material or similar material has not been and will not be submitted to or published in any other publication before. Furthermore, the authors certify that they have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content, including participation in the concept, design, analysis, writing, or revision of the manuscript.

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The authors are thankful to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Najran University for funding this work under the Research Groups Funding program grant code (NU/RG/SERC/12/1).

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. AHMA and RRB have done the analysis of the article. TA and AP have experienced the results with proper optimization. AP and RCR has validated the complete work and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to P. Ashok.

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Almawgani, A.H.M., Reddy, B.R., Alsuwian, T. et al. Impact of optical device parameters on the performance characteristics of temperature dependent quantum cascade lasers. Opt Quant Electron 55, 929 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-023-05197-7

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