Mid-infrared field-tunable intersubband electroluminescence at room temperature by photon-assisted tunneling in coupled-quantum wells

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Abstract
Electroluminescence associated with intersubband transition energies greater than the optical phonon energy and at temperatures as high as 300 K is reported. The mid‐infrared (λ∼5 μm) luminescence is generated by electron injection into AlInAs/GaInAs coupled‐quantum wells via an AlInAs/GaInAs pseudoquaternary graded gap alloy. Optical powers up to a few nanowatts and linear in the drive current have been measured. The large Stark shift of the luminescence peak demonstrates the photon‐assisted tunneling nature of the transition. The temperature independence of the luminescence slope efficiency in the 10–100 K range and the linearity of the optical power versus drive current provide strong evidence of population inversion.