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The thermal failure process of the quantum cascade laser

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Abstract

We report the thermal failure process of the quantum cascade laser. Firstly, high temperature and strain in the active region are verified by Raman spectra, and the conspicuous catastrophically failed characteristics are observed by scanning electron microscope. Secondly, the defects generate serious structure disorder due to the high temperature of the active region and the resulted strain relaxation. Thirdly, the abundant atomic diffusion in the active region and substrate are observed. The structure disorder and the change of element composition in the active region directly lead to the quantum cascade laser failure. The theoretical analysis fits well with the results of experimental studies.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Startup Foundation for Introducing Talent of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (Grant No. S8113104001). The author would like to thank Professor Fengqi Liu for critically data and useful conversations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, People’s Republic of China

    Yongzheng Hu & Jinhua Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials Science, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Quande Zhang

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  1. Yongzheng Hu
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  2. Quande Zhang
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  3. Jinhua Li
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Correspondence to Yongzheng Hu.

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Hu, Y., Zhang, Q. & Li, J. The thermal failure process of the quantum cascade laser. Opt Quant Electron 47, 3419–3426 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-015-0217-z

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