Single-mode interband cascade laser based on V-coupled cavity with 210 nm wavelength tuning range near 3 µm

Interband cascade lasers (ICLs) are efficient and compact mid-infrared (3-5 µm) light sources with many applications. By enhancing the coupling coefficient and using a type-I ICL wafer, single-mode ICLs were demonstrated based on V-coupled cavity with significantly extended tuning range and with a side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) exceeding 35 dB in continuous wave operation near 3 µm. A V-coupled cavity ICL exhibited a wavelength tuning up to 67 nm at a fixed temperature, and the total tuning range exceeds 210 nm when the heat sink temperature is adjusted from 80 to 180 K. The realization of single-mode in such a wide temperature range with a tuning range exceeding 210 nm verified the advantage of V-coupled cavity ICLs for effective detection of multiple gas species. This is very different from the conventional distributed feedback (DFB) laser where the single-mode operation is restricted to a narrow temperature range, in which the match between the gain peak and the DFB grating period determined wavelength is required. Another V-coupled cavity ICL is tuned over 120 nm from 2997.56 nm to 3117.50 nm with the heat-sink temperature varied from 210 K to 240 K, over 100 K higher than the previously reported maximum operating temperature for V-coupled cavity ICLs.