Abstract
A method for generating mid-IR radiation (λ ∼ 10μm) in near-IR (λ ∼1 μm) quantum-well semiconductor heterolasers has been proposed. This method is based on the formation of population inversion at a mid-IR intersubband transition as a result of the depletion of its lower level by a strong near-IR field. In contrast to the previous investigations of this problem, the inhomogeneous broadening of the noted transition (caused by the dependence of its frequency on the carrier energy) is taken into account, and it is proposed to invert it not in the entire spectral range but only in the region resonant with the mid-IR field. This approach makes it possible to significantly reduce (in comparison with the previous estimates) the threshold pump current density for initiating mid-IR generation and, as a result, hope to implement operation of the proposed laser at room temperature in the cw mode.
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Original Russian Text © V.A. Kukushkin, 2008, published in Zhurnal Éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2008, Vol. 133, No. 3, pp. 522–531.
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Kukushkin, V.A. Generation of mid-IR radiation in near-IR semiconductor lasers based on low-dimensional heterostructures. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 106, 450–458 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776108030059
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776108030059