High-power and high-efficiency midwave-infrared interband cascade lasers

Abstract
A ten-stage interband cascade laser emitting at 3.33.6μm exhibits a voltage drop only 4% above the theoretical minimum, and operates to room temperature in pulsed mode. At 78K , a five-stage device mounted epitaxial-side-up with coated facets has a maximum cw wallplug efficiency of 21%, and a second device produces up to 1.1W of cw power.