Room-temperature, continuous-wave, single transverse-mode operation of distributed-feedback and Fabry-Perot interband cascade lasers

Alpes demonstrates state-of-the-art performance of distributed-feedback (DFB) and Fabry-Perot (FP) interband cascade lasers (ICLs) for room-temperature, continuous-wave, single transverse-mode operation at 3.35 µm-emission for sensing, broadband, and high-power applications. To achieve single transverse-mode operation, while circumventing the drawbacks of prior art designs discussed in the literature, Alpes employs best-in-class, etching techniques optimized for antimonides (Sb) to obtain vertical sidewall geometries and etch-depth precision for narrow waveguides. Alpes employs a novel design with a modified vertical epitaxial architecture; an asymmetric separate confinement layer (SCL) configuration where the upper SCL is significantly thinner than the lower SCL, allowing for wider waveguides while maintaining fundamental-mode operation.