A sensor system based on a continuous wave, external-cavity quantum-cascade laser (CW EC-QCL) was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of atmospheric H2O, HDO, N2O and CH4 using a compact, dense pattern multi-pass gas cell with an effective path-length of 57.6 m. The ECQCL with a mode-hop-free spectral range of 1225-1285 cm operating at ~7.8 μm was scanned covering four neighboring absorptio...

Cascade pumping of type-I quantum well gain sections was utilized to increase output power and efficiency of GaSb-based diode lasers operating in a spectral region from 1.9 to 3.3 μm. Carrier recycling between quantum well gain stages was realized using band-to-band tunneling in GaSb/AlSb/InAs heterostructure complemented with optimized electron and hole injector regions. Coated devices with an...

A scheme to calibrate a frequency-swept frequency comb against reference laser is developed. Its application dual-comb spectrometer based on midinfrared quantum cascade lasers results in molecular spectra with high-frequency accuracy at fast refresh rates.

We demonstrate measurements of the alpha factor of a distributed-feedback quantum cascade laser (QCL) by using a newly modified self-mixing interferometric technique exploring the laser itself as the detector. We find a strong dependence of the alpha factor on the injection current, ranging from -0.44 at 120 mA to 2.29 at 180 mA, which can be attributed to the inherent physics of QCLs.

We report the first application of a thermoelectrically cooled, distributed-feedback quantum-cascade laser for continuous spectroscopic monitoring of CO in ambient air at a wavelength of 4.6 microm. A noise-equivalent detection limit of 12 parts per billion was demonstrated experimentally with a 102-cm optical pathlength and a 2.5-min data acquisition time at a 10-kHz pulsed-laser repetition ra...

We investigated dual wavelength mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers based on heterogeneous cascades. We found that due to gain competition laser action tends to start in higher order lateral modes. The mid-infrared mode with the lower threshold current reduces population inversion for the second laser with the higher threshold current due to stimulated emission. We developed a rate equation mod...

A novel all-electrical method of frequency noise reduction in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) is proposed. Electrical current through the laser was continuously adjusted to compensate for fluctuations of the laser internal resistance, which led to an active stabilization of the optical emission frequency. A reduction of the linewidth from 1.7 MHz in the standard constant current mode of operation...

Recent developments of two mid-infrared tunable laser spectrometers dedicated to carbon isotope ratio determination are presented. First, a field deployable quantum cascade laser-based sensor is described, along with line selection strategy for (13/12)CO(2) ratio measurements. Secondly, an instrument architecture based on difference frequency generation is presented. The analyses of fundamental...