Research progress of 3-4μm antimonide interband cascade laser (invited)

The mid-infrared lasers of 3-4 m can be widely used in industrial gas detection, medical treatment and free space optical communication. At present, the antimonide semiconductor interband cascade laser is an ideal scheme for realizing 3-4 m in the middle infrared band. The interband cascade laser (ICL) may be considered the hybrid of a conventional diode laser that generates photons via electron-hole recombination, and an intersubband-based quantum cascade laser (QCL) that stacks multiple stages for enhanced current efficiency. This paper gives an overview of the basic working principle of inter-band cascade lasers, and describes the development history of major inter-band cascade lasers, including the University of Oklahoma, the US Naval Laboratory, and the University of Woodsburg. The performance of the interband cascade laser developed by the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is also included. By analyzing the difficulties in designing and preparing the laser, the technical solution to further improve the performance of this kind of lasers is expounded.